While I’m not sure if this is true nationwide, the Anthropologies around me have kicked off their open hiring season. There are signs in each of the NYC Anthropologies about open interviews (meaning no appointment required) held at the Soho store at designated times on designated days. If you’d like to work at Anthropologie you should check in with your local store to see if they are hiring as well.
It’s a bit early to be doing holiday hiring so maybe they’re trying to catch the back-to-school crowd. My Anthropologies all have a diverse mix of staff: tall and short, male and female, etc. It’s great to see such a range of people represented. There’s also a wide range of ages! Which hopefully drives home the fact that Anthro is for every free-spirited woman, no matter what your age. You don’t have to wear an annoying headset when you work at Anthro but you do have to carry around a walkie-talkie set on super loud. You also have to be willing to take a whole pile of “no’s” and “not todays” from certain gals who try on maybe 20 items at a time…oh haha that’s me. So you also get your upper body workout!
One of the most common Anthro questions I get emailed is, “What should I wear to an Anthropologie interview?” A lot of people ask if it’s OK to wear Anthro to be interviewed at Anthro and my answer is sure. It shows your love for the brand. Unless it’s a recent piece though don’t be hurt if staff doesn’t recognize it. Not everyone is the Anthrophile we are. My suggestion is to wear something that shows your personal style. You’re not required to wear Anthro clothing at the store during your shift but they do want you to fit into the overall story Anthropologie tells. If you have a supplementary outfit made up on non-Anthro items, or a mix of Anthro and not, this could be the time to let it shine.
I applied to work at Anthropologie during last year’s holiday season. I fully admit my interest was based in wanting the awesome employee discount. My first interview involved filling out an application, waiting around for a while and then interviewing with one of the managers. She asked me the basic stuff: why I want to work at Anthropologie, what the brand means to me, my approach to customer service, what retail experience I have, etc. All very basic stuff I’d get asked at any retail interview. (For the record, I also applied at J.Crew and it was a similar story.) The manager gave me a card with a code and asked me to move on to the next step — the survey!
In order to work for Urban Outfitters you have to fill out this ridiculous ethics survey. The questions are nuts. There were a lot of questions about drugs on the job, employees stealing, etc. Jezebel did a post on the survey not too far back and I’ll let them summarize:
The survey has 68 questions (all posed as statements) and is supposed to take 20 minutes. You’re instructed to respond on a scale, with choices like “Totally Disagree, ” “Very Slightly Disagree,” “Strongly Agree” and “Totally Agree.”
But: However loosely your moral compass is wound, it’s pretty easy to cheat this test, since with many of the questions, it’s so obvious how you should respond, if you want to get hired.
For instance, Question 13: “I have problems with long hours at work.” Who in their right mind — who really wants a job — is going to admit this?
Now maybe I’m biased but most of these questions strike me as being aimed more towards the younger Urban Outfitters crowd. Then again, crazy people are crazy at any age. The survey rephrases the questions several times to check for consistency. I could not believe some of the questions.
For jobs that involve visual merchandising (i.e. window and store displays!) there is usually a more formalized application process. These open hires are more for floor and stock associates. You never know though so don’t be afraid to go in to check it out!
I wish I could speak more to what it’s like to work at Anthropologie. Alas, I can’t. That’s what friends are for! My friend Jessica worked at Anthropologie for a few years, first as a rotating floor associate and then a day manager. Here’s what she had to say:
It’s a lot of fun! I met a very cool group of guys and gals that I am still friends with to this day. When I started my manager was awesome; very fair about scheduling and flexible.
When I started I was on the floor. During my tenure you would rotate positions every hour. So one hour I was running, meaning getting sizes for clients in the fitting room, and then the next hour I might be putting stock out on the floor and the next hour I might be ringing. The pace is really fast. It’s great because you don’t have a chance to get bored but you will be very tired when your shift is over!
Anthropologie holds employee appreciation periods where employees get great deals on clothing and furniture…not sure if they still do this. My favorite was always delivery days where we’d get to unveil new clothes no one else had seen yet. Needless to say I spent almost every paycheck right back on Anthro clothing. That’s how they get ya!
Many thanks, Jessica. I have a couple of friends working at Anthropologie now and they echo these sentiments. It seems like a pretty cool place to work. The staff has always had exemplary customer service with me — no cutting in front of me when I’m reaching for something, honest evaluations of how an item looks on me, very polite always. It’s part of the reason why I love Anthro so much.
Thanks for this info Roxy-it is very detailed and so informative! This is why I love your site!
Hi! LOVE your blog 🙂 Curious tho, what kind of employee discount does Anthro give to their employees?
Hi onomahimah, employees get 40% off regular priced apparel.
@ onomahimah-it's also 20% off of home items.
I guess you don't know much about retail, huh? They have definitely started hiring for holiday already!! That's what the open hires are all about.
So detailed thanks, Roxy! Seriously if I worked there all my paychecks would go back to them considering how I am now with my normal full time job already. But imagine all the pretty clothes to be collected!
Thanks for the detailed info Roxy! This is so helpful for me. They're opening a 2 story location downtown here in the Chicago loop this fall and I want to apply for a part-time job. This info realy helps!!
Haha! I also applied for a part-time job (for the employee discount) over the holidays, and had to go through that really long drag of online questionnaire. Didn't get the job, though. Sad! Don't know it's because I was available only between Thanksgiving in November and the first half of December – hardly a month. (on a month-long holiday abroad for Christmas so couldn't have worked anyway).40% of regular price is not a lot, unless it's the same % on their already-marked down sale ro super-sales items!I would love to be on their display/decoration team, that'd be nice. Are you going to try again this year? I am not, as I am going on a month-long holiday again. But thinking of applying again next Summer. 😉
Oh.. by the way, I am also an IT Ops/Product Manager! Ha!Same Anonymous at September 23, 2009 11:46 AM
I probably won't apply this year. I would be really happy working at Anthro but I'll be traveling a lot this fall. Since they didn't hire me last year I think that puts my chances pretty low for this year given the schedule considerations. Go Team Ops!!!
I applied last year, and I didn't get hired. I think I'm going to try again though — against my parent's judgement. 😐
Good luck to everyone that is applying! I humbly request that if you are hired you drop anonymous hints about new arrivals, sales, etc. =)
I think a 40% discount on full price is awesome and worth working there if you shop there a lot!! It would be my reasoning for working there and my checks would go to Anthro purchases. I've had friends that worked for Anthro and I know they also occasionally give them 40% off sale too.
The discount is definitely worth. That's usually close to the first markdown. Plus you get first dibs on all the new stuff before it sells out.
thankyou for this because I'm applying at one of the stores out here! wish me luck!
Ahh good luck Natalie!!
thanks again roxy for the info. good luck to everyone who tries to apply.
Wow, that's a great insight into how working/applying for Anthro works! My coworkers told me that there was a girl who worked full-time with our company once and she also worked part-time on the weekends at Anthro because she loved the clothes so much, haha!
do employees get discounts on sale merchandise?
do employees get discounts on sale merchandise?
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25% off sale that's pretty good.
Sorry to correct you Roxy, but employees do not get 25% off sale. Employees get 40% off sale (apparel and home) only during the Employee Appreciation days which happen about four to six times a year- with a few one-off days sprinkled inbetween.
Thanks for correcting me Anon. I deleted the incorrect comment.
Anon 6:56 here…No problem! I wish it was more frequent, but sadly it is not.The best tip I can give about getting hired is to have open availability- *especially* on the weekends. That is what they are looking for during the holiday open hires. Previous retail is good, but not necessary. They will take note of your appearance and attire. Wearing anthro pieces is good, but just getting their overall look is what they want, be it from them or from the thrift store. Vintage clothing/accessories and a nice pair of boots are very liked and appreciated.
I just got hired yesterday! I wanted a part-time job for the holiday season, in addition to my full-time graphic design job. I went in on my lunch hour on a whim and they were doing interviews. I wore an american apparel black cardigan, teal plaid boyfriend shirt from urban, some dark jeans from banana, and gray chucks. I felt a little underdressed for an on the spot interview, but the questions they asked were the typical questions you'd expect for retail. I'll be working in a CT store. I am stoked about the discount, but I have no idea what the dress code is for employees. I am a big jeans and urban t-shirt person. But I am excited to be motivated to get dressed up for work. I can't wait to get some more dresses and boots!
CONGRATS ashes!! That is awesome. I'm very happy for you, and also slightly jealous. Ah Connecticut, my homeland.I think Anon above you hit on some great clothing suggestions.
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hmmmmmmmmmmmmm……..I'm really thinking about getting an Anthro part time job. What are the hours like for part time? I work full time at a home health company and I'm thinking I want to work just weekends..and nights after 6pm..I just don't know how this fits into my schedule. Plus I'm gone for Dec 20 – 30th…argh but the discount! it's so droolworthy..I'd basically work just to buy clothes 😛 lolso any info on what kind of hours they'll demand for weekend partimers?
Last year when I applied, they wanted me to be available minimum 20 hours per week including both weekend days/nights. The stores mostly close at 8 PM but you're there til 11 doing stock, closing out the cash registers, etc. Good luck if you decide to apply!