I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Macy's (San Mateo, CA) in Nov 2011
Interview
Looked up job openings on Monster and saw Macy's hiring seasonal so I went and applied online. The usual questions like phone number, school, and other general things were present. I think there was a personality test too, where they ask you questions about what you'd do in a situation and etc, wasn't too hard. Got an email the next day asking me to schedule my own appointment day and time, but I noticed all the options were set for the next day so I just went with it. I saw a button that said "Not ready today" but it was also a first come first serve thing so I didn't bother. Wear all black I suggest (black dress shirt collared, tie not too important as I didn't use one, black slacks and try to wear black shoes) since that is the uniform, or at least very dark clothes.
If you had no customer service experience and a customer asked you to help him pick something out, say a shirt, how would you do it? (Possibly followed up by: Say the customer loved the shirt, how would you convince him to buy more than just that?")
Was interviewed for a seasonal position. Was told they have no seasonal positions, once they found out I was a college student. Made no sense to me quickly ended the interview.
The interview process was straightforward and fairly quick. It started with a phone interview from a recruiter or hiring representative who asked general questions about my background, availability, and interest in the role. The tone was professional but conversational, and the interviewer focused on making sure I could handle a fast-paced, customer-facing environment.
I had one interview with the store manager and it lasted for about 45 minutes. The interview was all standard behavioral questions. I was offered the job on the spot.