Victoria’s Secret Interview Questions

Congratulations on getting a Victoria’s Secret Interview.

We all know interviews are stressful and competition is intense.

However, with a small amount of preparation you can ace the Victoria Secret Interview.

Here we will discuss how to successfully answer potential interview questions for Victoria Secret.

Victoria’s Secret Interview Questions

1) What can you tell us about Victoria’s Secret?

About Victoria’s Secret

• Victoria’s Secret is an American designer, manufacturer, and marketer of women’s lingerie and beauty products.
• Roy and Gaye Raymond founded Victoria’s Secret in 1977, and today L Brands is the parent company.
• Victoria’s Secret is the largest American retailer of lingerie.
• The head office is in Columbus Ohio.
• In 2002, Victoria’s Secret launched Pink.

2) Why do you want to work at Victoria’s Secret?

• Say you love fashion and would like to have a career in retail and Victoria’s Secret is the place to do it.  Say you feel you could learn a lot from a company that has done US$6.81 billion in net sales worldwide.
• State you love the product and the service you get and because of this, you would be proud to represent them.

3) Why should we hire you?

When answering this question, consider the following tips:

• Be straightforward and confident about your abilities.
• Highlight the reasons why you are the right candidate.
• Express enthusiasm for why you want this job.
• Additionally, affirm your ability to work hard.

4) What hours can you work?

• Try and be flexible when answering this question. The more relaxed you are with your hours, the better your chance of landing the job.
• State that you understand if you need to work on weekends and holidays. 

5) What is your greatest weakness?

6) How would you define excellent customer service? 

• The staff is friendly and always willing to help the customer find her needs.
• Customers are not waiting in line for long periods at checkout.
• The store has adequate inventory.

7) How would you deal with a difficult customer?

Monster.com provides several steps to deal with an upset customer

1. Get control of yourself.
2. Listen and let the customer vent.
3. Show the customer you care.
4. Don’t blame the customer or the company.
5. Try to solve the problem or find someone who can.
6. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
7. Finally, it is important not to take it personally.  If you get upset you will take it on future customers.

8) A co-worker is rude to customers.  What would you do?

• State you would pull the co-worker aside and remind him or her that you must treat the customers with respect.   A customer who receives poor service will not likely return.

9) What motivates you?

10) Who are Victoria’s Secret competitors?

BusinessInsider.com has a great post on Victoria’s Secrets competitors. Which are:

• American Eagle’s Aerie
• Love by GapBody
• True&Co
• Lively
• ThirdLove
• J.Crew
• Journelle
• Amazon’s Iris & Lilly

11) Do you have any questions for us?

• What do you like best about working here?
• How would you describe your ideal candidate for this position?
• What about this position is the most important?
• How would you measure my success and what could I do to exceed your expectations?
• Which part of the position has the steepest learning curve? What can I do to get up to speed quickly?
• What opportunities will I have to learn and grow?

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Sales Associate Interview Questions

Below are our recommended Victoria’s Secret Sales Associate Interview Questions

Why do you want to be a sales associate? 

Possible answers are 

• State you have strong communication skills which will help when understanding the customer’s needs and in turn increase sales. 
• Mention you are detail-oriented which will help when managing inventory both in the back room and the front of the store. 
• State you would prefer a job that keeps you active. 
• Say you enjoy the challenge of working under pressure. 

Why should we hire you as our sales associate? 

What you need to demonstrate is why you are better than other applicants. To do this you must show that you have the related experience to be a sales associate. 

If you have any retail, customer service, or sales experience now is the time to mention it. 

The following is considered related work experience 

• Working with customers in a retail environment. 
• Working the point of sale system. 
• Driving sales growth. 
• Inventory management in the back room. 
• Product placement according to brand standards. 
• Replenishing and marking down inventory 
• Working with brand standards

Finally, state you are available to work weekends and holidays as you know how important is for the business.

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Store Manager Interview Questions

Below are questions specific to Victoria’s Secret Store Manager Interview.

Why do you want to be a store manager? 

Possible answers are

• Say you feel you have strong leadership and communication skills which will allow you to successfully manage a team.
• State you enjoy coaching others to reach their full potential. 
• Mention you want to work in retail and feel Victoria Secret is a great place to learn and grow your career.

Why should we hire you as our store manager? 

To answer this question successfully you must show how your previous experience and skills relate to the store manager position. 

Let’s focus on the qualification section of the job description

• Previous experience leading leaders and associate teams (Experience: previous management experience) 
• Demonstrates ability to improve customer satisfaction and drive customer loyalty 
• Proven ability to effectively delegate, follow up, and communicate with all levels of the organization (Skill required: communication) 
• Demonstrates ability to manage complex and competing priorities with time management and organizational skills (Skill required: management and organization) 
• Demonstrates ability to assess talent, coach, develop and manage performance (skill required: coaching; experience: performance) 
• Demonstrates business acumen with strong strategic and analytical skills (experience: using data to drive sales) 

Below is a sample to this question

• In my last job, I was a manager in a clothing department. During this time I gained valuable management experience. 
• In this role, I managed several team members. My duties included coaching and training and measuring their performance. 
• I had instructed my team to improve customer loyalty by getting customers to sign up for our rewards program. Our store had more signups than any other store in the Western United States. 
• In this role, I demonstrated strong communication skills by delegating tasks to my direct reports. I meet with the general manager on a weekly basis where I was able to communicate any issues at the store and highlight our successes. 
• In this role, I learned valuable time management and organization skills. 

How do you motivate your employees? 

• State you believe that money is not a great motivator and taking the time to acknowledge your employees on a job well done goes a long way.

Describe your process of firing or letting someone go?

• State you always put this person on a performance plan so they can understand why they are not meeting expectations
• If they do not meet their expectations within a specified time period you let them go

What hours can you work?

• The job description does state they will need someone with the ability to work nights, weekends, holidays, and during non-business hours so consider this when answering this question. 

What is your approach on shrink reduction? 

• Shrink reduction is a result of missing inventory due to theft, problems with the supplier, or paperwork errors
• Talk about any experience you have using security equipment, making sure the cash register is balanced, checking the prices on inventory and vendor fraud are excellent ways to fight retail shrinkage

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Victoria’s Secret Group Interview

If you are in a group interview remember to speak up and most importantly not to panic.

You will probably most likely do a role play where you sell an item to the interviewer. Try and pick out three items on their website and think of what you are going to say.

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Victoria’s Secret Second Interview

If you have a second interview give yourself a pat on the back. A second interview means they liked you enough to invite you back.

The second interview is most likely to be with the store manager. Study the questions above and you will do fine.

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Victoria’s Secret Interview Tips

• Studies reveal that in general the people who get hired are those who mix speaking and listening fifty-fifty in the interview. SO DON’T RAMBLE! 
• Twenty-Second to Two Minute Rule. Studies have revealed that is when it is your turn to speak or answer a question you should not plan on speaking for more than two minutes.
• Make good eye contact throughout the interview.
• Don’t speak too fast as you will sound nervous and don’t speak too slow as you will sound boring.
• Bring two copies of your resume.
• Don’t ask about time off.

Victoria’s Secret Interview Attire – Wear black to your Victora’s Secret Interview! Note Victoria Secret Employees wear all black because this is their dress code.

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See Also

• Search for Jobs
• Sign up for Job Alerts
• Victoria Secret Pink Interview Questions