I applied in-person. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at ALDI (Edison, NJ) in May 2013
Interview
Approached store manager with my resume and was later called by the district manager for an interview. She asked the standard questions about my management experience and then informed me that the next steps would be another interview with another district manager then an interview with a director of operations, then a background check and drug test. She probed me repeatedly about fessing up to anything that may show up on either the background check or drug test. Was later called for an interview with the director of operations. I skipped the second interview somehow. Fairly easy interview, same questions as the first interview and then the same scare tactics about the background check and drug test. He even went so far as to tell me (falsely) that they sometimes do hair follicle tests to see my reaction. Went for the urine test and was offered the job one week later. The whole process took 3 weeks.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give me an example of a time you worked on developing an underperforming employee and what was the outcome. How did this improve you as a manager?
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at ALDI in May 2013
Interview
I went to a job fair with my resume in hand. Handed in the resume and sat down for an interview which I now know was with a recruiter. She asked basic questions and then told me in great detail what the company is about and what they would expect of me. Looking back she most definitely did most of the talking. The recruiter said she thought I was a good fit and arranged for me to interview with someone with the job title along the lines of 'Vice President of Operations'. She was apparently in the next room and introduced us. The part with the VP was more of a normal interview. I got a call from the recruiter later that night saying I should expect a call within a week to setup an interview with a DM and a current GM. I got a call the next day from a DM. The DM interview was pretty easy, but that could be because I interviewed twice already and the questions were similiar/reworded. The DM then offered me conditional employment as long as Background check and drug test came out fine. I had nothing to worry about but he kept stressing honesty was important and that if I told him something was on the background check/drug test, I may still be up for consideration. He kept saying it so I guess honesty is extremely important to them, as it should be. Once everything came back clean he called me and asked when I wanted to start. I told him give me two weeks to quit my current job. He honored it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The interview with the VP of Operations was the tougher one. I was a employed at the time as a manager in retail. She asked me my greatest weakness. Then immediately after my answer, she asked 'If I were to speak with one of your current employees, what would they say your least favorable trait would be?' They're not difficult questions, but asking both in the same interview was a slick way to give 2 weaknesses. I simply wasn't expecting it.
I applied in-person. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at ALDI (Saginaw, MI) in Sep 2012
Interview
The store manager called me in for an interview after I hand delivered an app and my resume a week prior. It literally took five minutes. Easy as pie. I was under the impression that I was being interviewed for a mgr trainee position since it was the only thing I put on my app, and I have mgt experience. The store manager asked me if i was willing to start as a cashier though.. Kind of upsetting since it would've been a demotion for me and I still wonder why she called me in the first place.. Plus since the interview was so short, makes me kind of feel like she knew she wasnt going to hire me anyway.