I carefully prepared for a casual interview after reading other interviews for Trader Joe's Crew Member on Glassdoor. Even though most people said the interview-on-the-spot was pleasant and very easy, I was nervous as I have not had to go through the interview process at all in the last 20 years. The jobs I have had were all introduced to me through friends and were not formal or typical of most jobs. I downloaded the application from the Trader Joe's website, filled it out and readied myself to be interviewed upon handing it in. I had read sample interview questions, and had prepared a few answers, trying to not make them sound too scripted. I dressed nicely and walked into TJ's and headed straight up to the counter by the cash registers where the "Mates" hang out. There were 2 women there and I asked one "Who should I talk to about applying for a job?" She said "That would be me", and smiled. Then she asked if I had an application and I handed her mine plus 3 references stapled to the back. I had assumed we would go somewhere for the spontaneous interview, maybe in the back or at a table and chairs somewhere, but she conducted the brief interview right there from behind her counter as I stood on the other side. That made me feel a lot more at ease. The questions were exactly in line with what others had posted here. "Why Trader Joe's?", to which I responded "I like the interaction between Crew Members and customers. It seems like a fun, high energy place to work. Other places like Whole Foods you might stand around waiting for the crew members to stop talking to one another so that they might help you." "What's your favorite Trader Joe's product?" I said I liked the Cookie Butter with some Trader Joe's pretzels, The Hake fish in parchment paper, and Shephards Pie. "What have you been doing since your last job?", to which I replied that I was in a band that was helping supplement my income somewhat, and was doing backline tech at an instrument rental place here in Austin, TX. That was basically it, then she handed me a card and explained that if I hadn't heard anything within 2 weeks, feel free to give a call to the store and ask about my application. She also said that they weren't actively hiring right now, but are always looking to hire the right person. I said "Thank you," and shook her hand. It was over so quickly and I had been so worried about how it would all go down, I was relieved it was so painless. The flip side of that is that she asked far fewer questions than most people had suggested they might ask in the first interview, and I'm somewhat worried that they are not interested in my application as they are flush with employees right now. I can easily see not getting a call within 2 weeks, but I will call them in about a week and a half just to show I am really interested in working at Trader Joe's!