Lowe’s is a Fortune 500 company operating over 2,000 stores and employing over 300,000 people throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company receives around 400,000 job applications a year, but hires a little over 20,000 people. In other words, getting a job at Lowe’s is difficult, especially due to the candidate assessment process and the in-person interview.
If you are passionate about home improvement and want to work in one of the largest American companies, you need to prepare well. If you prove you are a great asset for the company, you will be happy with the job and its benefits. However, you have to pass the tests and especially the interview. Today we will discuss in detail six must-know questions and answers for a Lowe’s interview.
The Evaluation Process in Short
No matter what position you applied for at Lowe’s, you will probably go through an initial interview first. This session will usually take about 30-45 minutes and its purpose is to allow people at Lowe’s know you a bit better. The second part of the interview will take longer and will focus on skills and personality traits.
We strongly recommend you learn more about Lowe’s interview questions and answers for the positions of cashier, customer service associate,anddepartment manager before you arrive at the interview. The recruiters want the perfect match for each position and the questions often feature tricky issues that assess both your professional attitude and your personal strengths.
Our recommendation is to analyze each job-centric question and do your homework well. Besides that, Lowe’s is looking for people with good communication skills and an ease in properly dealing with people and situations. For this reason, let us discuss the six general questions you need to prepare for at an interview with this company.
6 General Questions and Answers at Lowe’s
The next six questions represent the fundamentals of a Lowe’s interview. For specific positions, these questions will take a more focused approach on the specifics of each job. However, if you applied for a cashier position, do not think they will not want to assess your leadership abilities besides you customer-service ones.
How would you deal with an irate customer?
It sounds good on paper to say that you would keep calm and composed, use a civilized tone to explain the customers what he/she needs to hear, help the customer find an item or even refund an item within the boundaries of the company policy and so on.
The problem with such answer is that it is an ideal, flawless one. However, Lowe’s hires people for honesty, accountability, responsibility, and problem solving skill. The good answer here is to describe a similar situation you solved successfully, emphasizing on your communication and negotiation skills, the steps you took to solve the client’s problem, the attitude of the customer after you managed the situation, and so on.
Lowe’s knows you do have feelings and that some clients cross many lines. However, your best asset is your customer-centered attitude and your conflict-solving skills.
Describe a time at your former workplace when you had to take leadership and solve a problem
You will have to take some leadership during your job, no matter if you applied for a cashier’s job and not a department manager one. By leadership, Lowe’s means anything from taking the initiative of solving a problem or helping your colleagues adapt to a new situation.
Offer such examples from your previous workplace, or speak about such situations in college – if this is your first job interview. Tell the recruiter how you took the initiative to teaching your colleagues about a new method, software, or paying system. Tell them about a time you chose overtime to implement something new in the company or when you solved a conflict inside the team.
Describe a situation when you identified and met the needs of a customer or co-worker
No matter what position you apply for at Lowe’s, you will have to deal with customers and co-workers in a friendly, open, non-conflictual, proactive manner. Lowe’s puts great emphasis on customer support and on team cooperation, so you will hear such question on almost any Lowe’s interview.
The issue here is that the company wants to assess your abilities of correctly identifying the needs of the customers and colleagues. Exemplify situations where you managed to defuse a tense situation, with an emphasis on the customer or the colleague in question.
Moreover, you should describe in detail the steps you took and the actions you engaged in to help the customer or the colleague without hurting the company or breaking the company rules. Such questions are about your best abilities to assess and intervene in an assertive manner.
Tell me about a time when your team accomplished something of value
Again, Lowe’s wants to know if you are able to inspire others and keep your heart with the company. Besides being able to follow protocols, take orders, and action within company’s policies, you also need to show creativity, dedication, productivity, and teamwork.
Offer examples of initiative, productivity results, team cooperation, leadership, problem-solving skills, and so on. You may need to become the engine that drives sales in your department that month, quickly adapt to new fiscal laws, or help your team overcome a problem or achieve a common goal.
Besides learning some of the best responses at Lowe’s specific job-centered interview questions, you can also learn how to describe like a pro your achievementsand your team’s accomplishments. Make sure you take such tips and tricks with you at the interview and employ them in a smart, mindful, and authentic manner (nobody likes people who learn things by heart but cannot manage spontaneity).
Describe how you managed a conflictual situation with a manager
Lowe’s is looking for people who can manage conflicts with clients and co-workers and defuse tension inside the team. They are also looking for people who can also manage a relationship with their managers.
Talk about how you solved disagreements with a manager in your past or how you proactively initiated conversations and debates with the management in order to present people with your ideas or your side of a particular situation. Speak about your peoples’ skills – mandatory for any job at Lowe’s – and your interpersonal relationships management abilities.
Such a question is a bit tricky, because it assesses your capability of being objective and hold your ground in the face of a manager as long as your arguments are flawless. You need to prove respect, assertiveness, listening skills, logic, argumentation skills, and dedication. Being stubborn, arguing for the sake of arguing, insubordination, and disrespect for the company’s regulations are not the ways to play this.
Remember that you will also want a promotion at Lowe’s in the future, and if you convince recruiters you can lead a team in a department, you are likely to stay on the shortlist of promotions.
Tells us about major life experiences related to your work
For some people, a job is just a job. While nobody expects you to have epiphanies and learn to perform miracles, the best jobs do come with satisfactory and engaging life experiences. Give an honest and compelling answer that shows you will be a great employee, willing to learn from mistakes and evolve as a professional and person.
You can offer an example of a poor decision that eventually helped you become a better professional. You can talk about situations that taught you valuable lessons about yourself, the work, your co-workers, management and leadership, and so on.
Conclusion
Mind the job-specific Lowe’s interview questions, but also do your homework in achievements, interpersonal skills, projects you led or completed, teamwork, communication, negotiation skills, and mindful rule following. Such issues are equally important to nail an interview at Lowe’s no matter what position you want to get.
