I applied on a Tuesday night, was called Wednesday morning, and scheduled an interview for that Friday. There was no phone interview, but only a confirmation of if I would like to have an interview.
I arrived early thinking I would have a one-on-one interview, but as I approached the HR receptionist, they asked if I was there for the career fair. "Yes, the career fair, thank you." I reluctantly state. "Ok, please sign in and have a seat with the other candidates." The room had five tables, each table maybe had 12 or so people at them, and I would assume that maybe 60 people were there either for a customer service or warehouse position. Needless to say, no need to go in more than 5 minutes to your interview time.
When they came in and greeted us the first thing they mention, and read closely, is that they receive over 3000 resumes and applications PER WEEK. "So take a deep breath and congratulate yourselves for making it this far already." - HR guy.
*So just know (before even applying) that you are competing with upwards of 3000 others at any given time.*
The first thing you do, as you are greeted and begin your interview process, is take a test - two tests to be exact. Everyone takes the same two initial tests. The first was a simple comparing numbers test. You simply have a booklet of 100 questions that you compare the two similarly-looking numbers and put a check mark if they are the same, or leave blank if they are not. Here are examples of that:
1. 2157 - 2157
2. 6938 - 6398
3. 4526 - 4526
4. 8369 - 8639
5. 1741 - 1471
The only ones on this example which you put a check mark beside will be questions 1 and 3. Easy, right? If not, learn it. It's a timed test and you have 4 minutes to complete as much as possible. Basically if you are dyslexic, then you will have trouble with this and probably shouldn't have a job in a warehouse or customer service because you'll be dealing with item numbers and addresses quite often.
The second test given to everyone in the career fair was a number sequencing test. You complete the sequence with the next two numbers. Here is an example of that:
1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 _ _
2. 2 4 6 8 10 12 _ _
3. 33 30 27 24 21 18 _ _
4. 2 14 26 38 50 62 _ _
5. 54 47 40 33 26 19 _ _
Get it? Simply input the last two numbers in the sequence. This test is about one page long and about 25 questions. You are given 4 minutes.
The next part of the process was one-on-one interviews. You will either interview with a member of the HR staff or some other Uline employee. The individual interviews lasted 10-15 minutes. Come prepared with at least one question to ask them and be ready to answer basic questions from your work history. This wasn't too hard. Just be yourself. If you made it through the initial "3000 resumes/week" phase, then you must have something to offer. Talk about those things.
*At this point, I can't say much more about the warehouse process as I was there for Customer Service.*
After the initial interview, if you've done well, then they ask you to stay and take additional tests. If you are customer service, then you will take two typing tests - a spelling test and a speed test. The spelling test was 15 words used in sentences and you simply spell it correctly whether it is spelled correct the first time, or not. You are being timed during this so be quick but be precise in your spelling. The second test is a 5-minute speed test. Type as much as you can (apparently without using your [backspace] key). I used my backspace key due to muscle memory and force of habit. I finished the tests and was sat back in the career fair room with two other fellow candidates – one warehouse and one customer service candidate.
We were then individually interviewed by a higher up positioned employee from the HR staff. This is your time to really shine and impress them. If you've made it through the 3000 resumes and now the 60+ candidates, then you should really feel proud to make it to round 2.
This was the second interview of the day and it lasted maybe 20-30 minutes. You are asked about what hours that you are willing to work - i.e. Mon-Fri, Tue-Sat, Sun-Thur, etc. You are also asked about your salary requirements. I stated anything over 15/hr fits my budget, and was informed that customer service starts at 17/hr. “Perfect!”
After this interview, which I also passed, I was asked what my day's plans were looking like and if I could stay for a job shadow opportunity to get to know what the process is and see if it's something I could handle. I agreed and spent about 30 minutes with an actual customer service rep. I listened in on calls and asked questions about the process.
They came and got me and asked if I could do it, and that they would be in touch. I would say that I spent about 4 hours at Uline during the interview and job shadowing process.