I applied online. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Panda Express in Oct 2012
Interview
There was one interview with the GM, asking basic questions such as "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" "How would your friends describe you?" and "How do you respond under pressure?" I was also asked about previous employment, and whether or not I was referred by a current employee.
Most of the people that I worked with, including myself, were hired on the spot.
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Panda Express in Jun 2014
Interview
I applied for Panda Express and about a week later received an e-mail. They e-mail said that they were having an open interview and to come in around 9 am. I got there 15 minutes early and waited outside until one of the worker finally opened the door. I was the second person to write my name down on the sheet to be interviewed, but was called last. When I was finally called, we went outside to a small table and the interview began. He asked some questions that was not relevant to the job. The interviewer was so rude! His phone rang just as I was about to answer a question. He answered it in the middle of the interview and had a full conversation for about 15 minutes before he came back to me. Then he asked if I had any questions and then the interview was over.
I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Panda Express in Sep 2014
Interview
Hiring staff was very quick to schedule interviews. 1 day after submitting my app, HR manager emailed to setup video interview via HireVue. 1 day after I completed my video interview, HR manager called to schedule a phone interview. After the HR phone interview, a local Area Coach called quickly to schedule an in-person interview, then his supervisor called to schedule another interview the following day.
Typical questions: strengths, weaknesses, why Panda Express?
Area Coach talked about great training via Landmark Forum seminar/workshop. I Googled Landmark Education after the interview and started to get weird vibes. Area Coach conducted a fairly open, 2-way conversation, rather than a 1-sided interview. He asked a few STAR questions.
My salary research online suggested that the pay would be good, the work would be hard, and the environment would probably be good, but busy. I decided that I didn't want to go through the "Panda Experience" of working 5 hours at a restaurant (I assume that this would be unpaid work) because I did not want to run the risk of running into somebody that I knew and jeopardize my current job.
The Area Coach hinted that Panda USED TO only promote managers from within and new prospective managers would have to start out at a lower position before they can become restaurant managers. I wasn't looking forward to a pay cut...so that's another reason that I withdrew my application.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What do you think a workday is like for a manager?