Retail Mock Interview
Practice 30 Retail interview questions covering customer service, sales scenarios, and team dynamics.
Question 17 of 30
You are scheduled to leave at 6 pm. Your replacement worker doesn't show up. What would you do?
Entry Level
Experienced
How to Answer
Example Answer
Community Answers
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"It's important to me that I have reliable coworkers so this type of situation would not happen frequently. If this were to happen, I would be sure to stay at the store until they showed up. It's important to be a team player."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"Circumstances happen, people are late, or even an emergency may occur. As a retail manager, I am always prepared to step up and take an extra shift or offer up overtime hours to another teammate. You have to be able to roll with the punches in this industry."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
The interviewer would like to know that you have no trouble when it comes to filling in, working overtime, or staying a bit late when unforeseen circumstances arise. Give an example of a time when you were a team player, offering assistance if your replacement does not show up for their shift.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"If my replacement did not show up for their shift, I would try to reach them and then find someone else who could take the shift on short notice. I am certainly willing to pull a double in extreme circumstances. Whatever is best for the company is the decision that I will make."
Interview Coach
Jaymie
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Anonymous Answer
Things happen; people could be late or an emergency.
I would be sure to stay at the store until they showed up.
It's important to be a team player.
I would be happy with taking on the extra work.
Rachelle's Feedback
Being happy with taking on extra work and enjoying the idea of being accessible and able to help...this is an interviewers dream :) Great reply.
Anonymous Answer
I would reasonably speaking stay later and put the company first. In extreme cases, I would be willing to work a double shift if I needed to. As long as my work responsibilities didn't overlap with my classes I would be glad to help.
Jaymie's Feedback
Great job! It sounds like you are a team player willing to go above and beyond to ensure the store is staffed and customers are taken care of.
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