I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Costco Wholesale (San Jose, CA) in May 2011
Interview
Heard Costco was hiring in Almaden and went into the store and asked for hiring manager. He was not available, but I got his name and was told all applicants must apply online. I applied online and returned following day and asked for hiring manager by name. I met him and introduced myself letting him know that I had applied online and wanted him to have a face to put with the application and told him I was eager to be a great employee for him. I continued to follow up every few days and 3 weeks later I got an interview with the manager and a supervisor. The questions were all "tell me about a time when........" ....you had a conflict with a co-worker, ....you had a disgruntled customer, etc. to which the answers were taken from my experiences the prior weeks at my previous employer. I did not get a call back until a month later for my final interview, which was successful and followed by a drug test on site and a background check.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about a time when you experienced conflict with a co-worker and how you resolved it?
You sit at a table in the food area with two managers. If you have a heart beat you got a job. They drug test immediately. They take you into a back room to suck on a dry sponge for about 5 minutes to see if you pass the test.
Initial phone screen with a manager. Went on to do in person interview with other managers (previous experience in a team, what i did to prepare,etc.) Clarified my schedule and started the onboarding a week later.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Time you worked on a team, mistake you made, communicating something new
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Costco Wholesale in Nov 2025
Interview
This was for a seasonal position. Went in and got seated in the breakroom. They called me in after about 15 minutes. I was interviewed by the Admin manager and the Front end manager. It went really well! They dud an amazing job of making me feel comfortable. I handed them copies of my resume and they were just pointing things out and asking me about that and what my plans were at Costco, considering the prestige of my college degree and my professional experience thus far. After that they asked me general situational questions. Told me to wait in the breakroom again to speak with GM. Conversation with him took less than 5 minutes. He told me my resume was impressive, also asked me what I was hoping to gain at Costco. Afterwards told me to be on standby to get my drug test done. That took about 15 minutes and I had orientation 2 days later.