The interview consisted of a telephone interview, a person to person interview with the Area Manager and another face to face interview with the Regional Manager. I've heard that the company can go through up to 9 interviews with an individual (insane!) before hiring someone. I was lucky that I was passed on after the third interview. The total time for all three interviews was about 3-1/2 hours. Please note a few things about the Company. The Container Store has been one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies in the U.S. to work for, for about a dozen years straight. You need to know this going in to the interview, because that is all they care about (more on that later). They have a slogan that essentially means why hire 3 mediocre employees when they can hire one great employee! (Get ready to do the work of three people, because they're not going to pay you three times the wages). They also boast that only 3% of the people who apply are hired. Now, let's stop and think about the above for a minute. If you apply to get into Harvard or Stanford University, you have a 6% chance of being accepted. Yet, at the Container Store, you're odds of getting hired are half of that. Yes, to sell kitchen and linen closet storage shelves and container units!! So, reverse it, and what it means is that 97% of the people who apply at the Container Store are "not worthy" of consideration. So, start putting the pieces of the puzzle together and start asking yourself a couple questions: 1) If they're unhappy with the 97% of the applicants before they get hired, how happy are they going to be with the 3%, after they get hired? 2) Is this a company that believes people, in general, have a strong work ethic, and will try their best to do a good job? They seem to think so, because they just filtered out 97% of the riff-raff that apply. Now, let's continue. Another thing they boast to prospective applicants is that the average retailer only provides about 8 hours of training, yet The Container Store provides over 260 hours of training! Is that really a good thing? Are you being trained or are you being brain-washed? Stop and think about that for a second. Keep in mind, if you're hired, you're already in the 3%. Are you really still that stupid? Now, let's talk about the pay. The Container Store claims that they pay 50% - 100% more than most retailers. Wrong! It turns out the Contatiner Store eliminated their bonus and incentive plan a couple years ago. So, in my circumstance, if I were hired, I would have essentially have received about a $15,000 pay CUT from my previous employer. I think the only way you're going to get a 50% wage increase is if you were making $7.25 an hour, and they offered you $12 an hour as an hourly salesperson. None of the other wage scales make any sense with their exaggerated sense of what they think they're paying you. Now, let's go back to the interview process. If you want to go the distance during the interview steps you're going to need to know a lot about the company. Remember, if you go into the interview not having done your homework in advance about the company, you're in the 97% of mediocre employees that expect the job to be handed to you on a silver platter. So, what do you do? 1) Visit their website; 2) Visit everything on their website, include all tabs, videos, blogs, comments, etc. (which are heavily edited by the way to ensure that all comments are 100% overflowingly enthusiastic and positive); 3) Go back and visit the website again. If you don't know about the Foundation Principles, who the President of the Company is, or what Elfa is, you don't stand a chance. You're in the stupid 97%. 4) Go to YouTube; 5) Go to Twitter; 6) Go to Facebook; 7) Go to Wikipedia; 8) Go to Google. Exasperate yourself. Eat, live, drink, breathe Container Store. Consume yourself. Now, that you've done all that, you'll notice that in every form of medium (website, blogs, comments, etc.), there is NOT a SINGLE NEGATIVE thing said about the company. Not a "but", not a "however", not even the inkling of constructive criticism or feedback. After all, you're in the Top 3% and the company is perfect! Now, put all the pieces of the puzzle together and what you get is a company that is doing everything in its power to ensure they only hire people that will keep them in the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For year after year after year. These are the cult-driven "rah-rahs" that don't have a mind, don't have a voice, don't have an opinion, and don't have a spine. Because, the way you get to be in the Fortune 100, my darlings, is you have to submit yourself for the award. That's right. The rankings are solely based on employee feedback from questionnaires that are company-submitted. No "buts" and no "howevers"--only the "awesomes" may apply.