I started looking for jobs for recent grads in January before graduating this May. I applied at the end of January and heard from a recruiter early in February via email She asked for a skype or phone interview. I opted for the phone interview. The phone interview was your basic interview questions. For help on these I researched the company history and also googled basic interview questions. Printed it all off and waited on the call. They do call on time! Be excited and have questions to ask. Interview tip: End the interview asking: By looking at my resume and speaking with me do you think I will be a good fit? What are these next steps in the hiring process? When should I expect to hear from you again. I was told a store visit/informal interview with store mgr and asst. mgr and then an interview with the DM. She said it would be a week but it was a waiting and emailing game from here. I followed up with a Thank you email to the recruiter and about 2- 2 1/2 weeks later she emailed me saying she forwarded my info to the DM. Close to mid March I finally got a call to go interview with the DM. I actually started to think I did not get the job since I was never asked to go on a store visit and like you, I read numerous interviews and that seems to be the norm. I over prepared for the interview: I compiled questions from this site and google, researched the company present and past. TIPS: Know why you want to work here. Love customer service and know what it is, and have examples where you excelled at it and all failed at it. You DO like to work hard and you DON'T expect to sit behind a desk. You DO work well under pressure. Know you will have to relocate. The interview was laid back at times and intense at times. It ended with me feeling confident but slightly unsure. He did want me to go on a store visit and then follow up with him. The store visit was informal. I could literally ask anything and was able to get a good look at what was expected. As an assistant you work hard and earn your stripes. It is a physical job and then turns into a desk job as you move into a store mgr position. As a female who is slightly out of shape it is not going to kill you. I followed up the next business day via the phone with the DM. He asked me what I learned, what questions did I ask, what stuck out the most, do I understand the roles an mtp, asst, and store mgr plays. He called me back a few hours later and offered me the JOB! Next you are emailed an offer and have to officially accept it within a week. Following that you have to go through a background check which takes forever and a day. Next thing you know you are right in the mix of learning all about paint.