Macy's HireVue Interview: Questions, Format, and a Worked Answer

Macy's uses HireVue as the first interview for some store sales jobs. Store candidates report about 6 questions. Several said only the first answer was on camera, and the rest were voice only. Cosmetics candidates report a longer version, with a written part and 4 video questions.

Some Executive Development Program candidates who do not live near the office report doing a later round on HireVue. Macy's says its culture is all about relationships: how it serves and supports customers, communities, and each other. The reported questions focus on customers. This page has those questions, what each one tests, and a worked answer.

Want a run-through first? HireVue practice gives you the same timed format with your answers scored, free.

The clock and the format are the same HireVue product every employer uses. The timing guide covers what happens when the timer runs out, and how HireVue scoring works covers what the recording is scored on.

Macy's, Inc. does not publish a short list of values. It says its culture is all about relationships: how it serves and supports customers, communities, and each other. Its social purpose is called Mission Every One. The reported questions test customer relationships most.

• Building rapport. Making a real connection with a customer, so they come back.
• Customer service. What good service means to you, with an example.
• Calming an upset customer. Staying calm and fixing the problem when a customer is loud or angry.
• Going above and beyond. One extra step you took for a customer, and what it led to.
• Availability. A clear, honest answer about the hours you can work.

Build one story for each line above. Every question below is asking for one of them.

These are the questions candidates report from recent Macy's screens, with the competency each one is built to test. Your set will be a mix of these and close variants.

1. Name a time you built a rapport with a customer. (Rapport)
2. Why do you want to work at Macy's? (Motivation)
3. What does good customer service mean to you? (Service)
4. Give an example of a time you went above and beyond for a customer. (Service)
5. If a customer is upset and making a scene, how would you calm the situation and make the customer happy? (Composure)
6. What is your availability? (Availability)

For the shape of each answer type, see HireVue interview questions by format. For the answer structure itself, the STAR method guide has worked examples.

Question: "Name a time you built a rapport with a customer."

"At my last job at a shoe store, a woman came in three Saturdays in a row and never bought anything. Most of us left her alone. The third time, I asked what she was shopping for. She said she was a nurse who stood for 12-hour shifts, and nothing she tried felt right. I asked about her shifts and what hurt by the end of the day. Then I brought out two pairs with more support and asked her to walk the store in each one for five minutes. She bought one pair. Two weeks later she came back, asked for me by name, and bought a second pair for work and one for her daughter. Over the next six months she sent in two other nurses from her unit. I learned that rapport starts with a real question and a little patience."

Why it scores: A real customer, a question that changed the sale, and repeat business you can count. About 60 seconds spoken.

Specific to Macy's:

• Plan for voice only. Candidates report that only the first answer used the camera, so your voice has to carry your energy.
• Have a clear availability answer ready, including weekends and holidays. Schedule questions come up.
• If you applied for cosmetics, expect a longer test, with a written part before the video questions.

For any HireVue:

1. Day 1. Write one story per competency in the list above. Two or three sentences each: the situation, what you decided, what happened.
2. Day 2. Say each story out loud on a two-minute timer. Most people run long the first time. Cut until each one ends on the result with time to spare.
3. Day 3. Run the reported questions cold, in one sitting, no notes. Then set up the room: quiet, camera at eye level, light on your face, wired internet if you have it.

The full setup checklist and a five-day version of this plan are in the free HireVue practice guide.

After you submit, results often take a week or more. Here is how to follow up after an interview if the window passes, and a salary negotiation email for when the offer comes. Applying for a move up where you already work? See promotion interview questions.

Company guides in this series, each with the reported questions and a worked answer:

• Goldman Sachs HireVue (investment banking)
• JPMorgan Chase HireVue (investment banking)
• Morgan Stanley HireVue (investment banking)
• Citi HireVue (banking)
• Bank of America HireVue (banking)
• Barclays HireVue (banking)
• Deutsche Bank HireVue (banking)
• Bain & Company HireVue (consulting)
• Boston Consulting Group HireVue (consulting)
• Deloitte HireVue (consulting and professional services)
• EY HireVue (professional services)
• Unilever HireVue (consumer goods)
• PepsiCo HireVue (consumer goods)
• Amazon HireVue (technology and operations)
• IBM HireVue (technology)
• Boeing HireVue (aerospace and engineering)
• Hilton HireVue (hospitality)
• Delta Air Lines HireVue (airlines)
• McDonald's HireVue (restaurants)
• Shell HireVue (energy)
• PwC HireVue (accounting and professional services)
• Accenture HireVue (consulting and technology services)
• Vodafone HireVue (telecommunications)
• Kraft Heinz HireVue (consumer packaged goods)
• Wells Fargo HireVue (banking)
• BlackRock HireVue (asset management)
• UBS HireVue (banking)
• United Airlines HireVue (airlines)
• Emirates HireVue (airlines)
• Marriott HireVue (hospitality)
• Johnson & Johnson HireVue (health care)
• PNC HireVue (banking)
• Kaiser Permanente HireVue (health care)
• KKR HireVue (private equity)
• Keurig Dr Pepper HireVue (consumer goods)
• Target HireVue (retail)
• Walmart HireVue (retail)
• Nike HireVue (sportswear)