Had several phone interviews and then was brought in store for a third interview. The overall experience was okay, I was told I would be notified on their decision and was never called or emailed regarding their decision. Casual in person interview style.

Very lengthy! After applying I had a 15 minute phone interview with another manager before setting up a meeting with the DM. That meeting lasted over an hour. From was scheduled another interview via phone, again an hour long. After that I was asked to come back to the store for a three hour assessment test. Concluding this I was asked by the DM to notify all my references as they were going to be contacted. She thanked me for coming and said I would be contacted either way. She never contacted me not even a rejection email. I spent over 6 hours interviewing, I informed all my references she'd be calling (she never did) and she never took the time to follow up on her word that she'd notify me either way. Many other candidates seem to have had the same experience. It seems like that's Build a Bears practice, to tell you they will let you know either way and never contact you.

DM emailed to setup interview about 2 weeks after application was submitted. During the interview she got my schedule for the next two weeks and said she wanted to set me up with a 2nd peer based interview. Never heard anything. 5ish weeks later I got an email out of the blue stating she wanted to set me up for a peer interview and she gave me a list of options for times and days. I'm currently working as an SM for another company, and none of the options worked with my schedule. I emailed back, apologized, but told her nothing worked. A week later she emails back asking if I can do a phone interview with another DM as it was company policy for at least 2 interviews. I gave her my availability, and she set it up. At this point I'm thinking she hired someone else for the SM position or at least offered it to someone else, and it didn't work out. Maybe I was her second choice or something. The interview with the second DM seemed to go well she said either herself or the DM for the district I applied within would be getting back to me within the week. During the second interview, the DM and I discussed if I would be willing to step into an ASM position instead of an SM position if the money could be worked out. I said yes. I had no aversion to starting as an ASM. 5-6 days later a SM from a different city from the store I applied to called to chat with me about an ASM position that she had open. The SM that I was talking with had no idea that I had previously interviewed, and all she knew was that my resume had been handed to her by her DM. I told her I was open to the position, but my concern would be money (which is the exact conversation that I had with the 2nd DM that I interviewed with). This caught her off guard, and the conversation only lasted a few minutes. She said the DM would be getting back with me. Never heard anything back, and honestly, at this point, the interview process has been some haphazard and disorganized that I'm no longer interested in working for this particular DM. If she's like this about everything (exclusive email communication, lack of communication in general, lack of leadership), I already know that I won't be able to work for her. It stinks because I've heard great things about the company, and I was honestly excited to start the interview process. They just can't seem to pull it together for one reason or another.