Applying at Home Depot is a complete waste of time

Things we need to know. Companies today wants to hire young kids just came of of college and we, OD (old dog) is not getting a chance. I applied at Target, Wal-Mart, Comcast, and some health care company and I was interviewed by some young girls. Well, when it was my turn to ask a couple of questions, they didn't know the answer. There went the job opportunity.

You are absolulty right

I HAVE READ ALL THE EMAILS FROM PEOPLE WANTING A JOB AT HD AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME. HD OPENDED FEB.8, 2007 IN COLLINSVILLE AND I LIVE 2 STREETS OVER FROM HD AND I APPLIED ON LINE TIME AFTER TIME AND WOULD GO TO THEIR JOB SEARCH AND TO FIND THAT THEY STILL HAD OPENINGS. I HAVE OVER TEN YEARS OF CASH HANDLING EXPERIENCE AS WELL AS CUSTOMER SERVICE SO I CALLED THE STORE AT COLLINSVILLE CROSSING AND TALKED TO ERNIE NICHOLSON WHO HIRES THE CASHIERS AND I TALKED TO HIM, HE PULLED UP MY APPLICATION THAT I FILLED OUT ON-LINE AND TOLD ME THAT HE WAS HIRING AND LOOKED AND SAW WHAT MY PAY RATE WAS AT MY PREVIOUS EMPLOYER AND HE TOLD ME TO STAY WHERE I WAS AT BECAUSE HE WASN'T PAYING ME OVER 8.00HR. HOW RUDE COULD A PERSON BE I REALLY WANTED TO WORK FOR HD, BUT NOW THAT I HAVE READ ALL THE E-MAIL, I AM GLAD THAT I DID NOT GET A CHANCE TO SHARE MY WORK EXPERIENCE WITH HD. BY THE WAY YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR JOB LISTINGS OFF THE WEB.

It's really unbelievable that Home Depot doesn't get it. They're not just alienating those in the job market, who are looking to better themselves and HD, but potential consumers for their products. Someone working at a Store, such as a Super Wal Mart gets paid, and proceeds to shop for everything from toys to food. It's no different in an HD Store or any other retail outlet. The employee gets paid and will shop in their store for produces they need to fix up or make repairs on their home or apartment. Not to treat applicants and/or employees with respect is a sure method to, and a direct route to failure. All Corproations are in the People Business. When a Corporation forgets this, disaster is not too far behind.

As a psychologist, I agreed that it feels good to vent the way you feel from a bad experoence as discussed in your comments. This is a great forum to do just that. However, the button line has always been to find the solution and apply it. The problem as I see it is that HD is not willing to take the steps to correct the problem. It's not the pay or benefit at the top of the list, but the total lack of respect. Every individual that is hired knows what the pay and benefits are at the time they accept the position. But on accepting the position the individual has agreed to do their best for the period of time they remain in their position with the said Corporation, Company, Etc. It does not give the individual the right to commit any illegal acts against their employer, nor should they complain about what they have already agreed to when accepting the position.

I have the solution and will be more than glad to share it with anyone that is interested. Whether or not this message meets with the approval of the people supplying this space, is up to them. I can guarantee you that it will solve the majority of the problems with the hiring process at HD or any other outlet that treats humans with anything less than total respect.

Some of these hiring managers don't get it. You may be coming from a higher paying job and you might want to step down and do something you might enjoy, regardless of the pay.

I think there was a situation with the Home Depot near me where the hiring manager wouldn't higher anyone that would threaten their own job. Obviously they are very insecure in their own job.

MAE,IN COLLINSVILLE, ILLINOIS said: I HAVE READ ALL THE EMAILS FROM PEOPLE WANTING A JOB AT HD AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME. HD OPENDED FEB.8, 2007 IN COLLINSVILLE AND I LIVE 2 STREETS OVER FROM HD AND I APPLIED ON LINE TIME AFTER TIME AND WOULD GO TO THEIR JOB SEARCH AND TO FIND THAT THEY STILL HAD OPENINGS. I HAVE OVER TEN YEARS OF CASH HANDLING EXPERIENCE AS WELL AS CUSTOMER SERVICE SO I CALLED THE STORE AT COLLINSVILLE CROSSING AND TALKED TO ERNIE NICHOLSON WHO HIRES THE CASHIERS AND I TALKED TO HIM, HE PULLED UP MY APPLICATION THAT I FILLED OUT ON-LINE AND TOLD ME THAT HE WAS HIRING AND LOOKED AND SAW WHAT MY PAY RATE WAS AT MY PREVIOUS EMPLOYER AND HE TOLD ME TO STAY WHERE I WAS AT BECAUSE HE WASN'T PAYING ME OVER 8.00HR. HOW RUDE COULD A PERSON BE I REALLY WANTED TO WORK FOR HD, BUT NOW THAT I HAVE READ ALL THE E-MAIL, I AM GLAD THAT I DID NOT GET A CHANCE TO SHARE MY WORK EXPERIENCE WITH HD. BY THE WAY YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR JOB LISTINGS OFF THE WEB.

I too applied for a management position. The process works as such... apply online, two telephone interviews, testing center visit to take 3 tests, which the hardest is the business acumen - which I scored very high on. After that, you are given a formal sit-down interview with a HR person and a Store MGR. This is after you have completed a store-walkthrough visit (take plenty of notes and type this professionally). The next step is to wait by the phone for an additional sit-down interview, usually with 2-3 store management personnel. Be prepared for off the wall questions that have nothing to do with work performance or how you manage personnel. If you look under 30, you might get hired. After my last interview, I heard nothing from either store management person, human resources not even a rejection postcard. This was after I also made several follow up phone calls, and professional thank you letters. I could tell during the interview, with the lack of interest from the management personnel, they were just going through the motions. To add insult to injury, I reapplied again, was called for the testing session again... which 3 days later the human resource individual called me back to state I did not need to attend - my scores were extremely high on the first round - and according to her notes, I should have been contacted for a position offering. Still waiting 2 months later - AGAIN! I might add, I am not overweight, ugly, and haven't reached the age of 40 yet. The customer service I do not receive when I enter these establishments has caused me to boycott them for life. I have 6 years multi-unit retail experience of 10 locations, supervising over 500 personnel, a little more challenging than one big-box store with 125 employees in it.

Let me put it to you this way. If you are over 40, you won't get hire. This is how they work. I applied several times and got no response. One of my friend who was a young lady with less experience and education go hired in less than three week after she send her resume out. Does this tell you anything? That's Home Depot. See, I don't shop there anymore. I went out of my way to shop at Lowes.

Brian in Arizona in Mesa, Arizona said: I too applied for a management position. The process works as such... apply online, two telephone interviews, testing center visit to take 3 tests, which the hardest is the business acumen - which I scored very high on. After that, you are given a formal sit-down interview with a HR person and a Store MGR. This is after you have completed a store-walkthrough visit (take plenty of notes and type this professionally). The next step is to wait by the phone for an additional sit-down interview, usually with 2-3 store management personnel. Be prepared for off the wall questions that have nothing to do with work performance or how you manage personnel. If you look under 30, you might get hired. After my last interview, I heard nothing from either store management person, human resources not even a rejection postcard. This was after I also made several follow up phone calls, and professional thank you letters. I could tell during the interview, with the lack of interest from the management personnel, they were just going through the motions. To add insult to injury, I reapplied again, was called for the testing session again... which 3 days later the human resource individual called me back to state I did not need to attend - my scores were extremely high on the first round - and according to her notes, I should have been contacted for a position offering. Still waiting 2 months later - AGAIN! I might add, I am not overweight, ugly, and haven't reached the age of 40 yet. The customer service I do not receive when I enter these establishments has caused me to boycott them for life. I have 6 years multi-unit retail experience of 10 locations, supervising over 500 personnel, a little more challenging than one big-box store with 125 employees in it.

B

I applied at HD on-line, was called to come in for an interview, drove 75 miles to the store (I was relocating), and the store "manager" pulled a no-show! Then, they told me that there were no managers on duty that day! (huh?). 3 e-mails, 2 letters to corporate, no response. Called their 1-800 number and was told that it "wasn't our problem....talk to HR". They gave me HRs phone # which was the employee benefits line. Finally, I sent a letter to the store manager, guess what? No response. Stay far away!!

Professional Manager in Aurora, Colorado said: I recently attended a job fair and met Home Depot's Human Resources Manager, (*name removed).

She said that she got hired by using keywords from Home Depot's job description in her resume, and posting it on monster.com. In other words -- she got VERY lucky to get noticed and hired.

Take it from me. I am an Air Force veteran with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and more than 8 years of retail experience, and I can't even get an interview.

They probably didn't interview you because they told me they start EVERYONE off at $8.50 an hour and probably figured you were too over-qualified to work for that much money.

Umma Dono in South Windsor, Connecticut said: What are the rates of pay @ HD? Who gets/got paid how much and for what position. I'm thinking about applying in Connecticut.

Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!! I apologize FOR those lame brains!

You deserve better!

Yes you are right! I'm am tired of these young people in HR that can't seem to see that skills are transferrable from 1 business to another.
Kim

What does everyone think about the four employees of HD getting fired for apprehending a Professional Ring of Shoplifters? Their firing came after the employees had received letters of commendation from HD & the Police Department. HD reason: "The action of those employees could have caused injury to other employees and customers. By the way, The Ring attempted to steal $2,500.00 in wire.

I've worked for this company as well, and it is nothing special whatsoever. It is just another retail company that actually loves the high turnover rate of it's employees, this way they can keep being cheap on raises and pay rather than promoting people with growing salaries which they have earned over time. All the management with this company is absolutely terrible as well, and always disorganized. Truly don't waste your time, it's not worth it.

Are you for real? Just unbelievable. No wonder more and more people sit on the sidelines of life, afraid to get involved. To what is this world coming?

I was hired for the special service desk with a promise that I would be put in manager training if I proved myself. HA
I worked there two years and I finally got to speak with the store manager.
When I asked him about the manager training promise. He closed his door and told me "Joe I will deny telling you this if you say it to anyone, but you'll never get a managers job"
WhenI asked why. He told me that i was the wrong age and the wrong color. I'm 50 and white.
I stayed another 9 months then got out.
Home depot says they want the best but they will fire you in a second if you want more money. F home depot.

I feel your pain. I used to live in Marietta, GA which is about 10 minutes away from Home Depot. I have applied several times on their career web-site for Leadership Training and other HR position. I have a B.S.B.A in HR and an MBA. I have over 5 years in retail. I too, could not get an interview or at least a letter indicating that I am not qualified. I would not recommend anyone to apply with this company. The company is going down in turm-oil.

Professional Manager in Aurora, Colorado said: I recently attended a job fair and met Home Depot's Human Resources Manager, (*name removed).

She said that she got hired by using keywords from Home Depot's job description in her resume, and posting it on monster.com. In other words -- she got VERY lucky to get noticed and hired.

Take it from me. I am an Air Force veteran with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and more than 8 years of retail experience, and I can't even get an interview.

I see the same job advertised over and over and have never received a response to my application. I have decided I don't want to work there.

HRDude in Knoxville, Tennessee said: Glad I read you post. I applied as well and did not get any response. I have an MBA and 20 some years in the field. They won't even look at me. May be I am the lucky one. With all these negative comments, I won't work there if they pay me double what I am making now.
I think Lowes, Toy R Us, Pepsi may be in the same line.

Oh I can assure that one of your three in the last line of your response is true. I was 'sold' on my current HR position with one of these companies and now that I've been working in it for the past nearly two months its not even close to what I was told it would be like, and whats worse is that I have almost 4 years of relevant HR work through the military and no one seems to give a damn about military experience or the fact you served this country. In my case it seems to be more of a curse than anything else. Corporate America needs to get their heads out of their asses before employment law starts getting shoved up there. Not to mention that my employer before service has denied me re-employment, thank you morons you just opened up a nasty ass door to civil action. Lets see how much more Corp America wants to treat its Veterans like crap before we all get sick of it.

If HD is so bad why are you trying to apply there?

Professional Manager in Aurora, Colorado said: I recently attended a job fair and met Home Depot's Human Resources Manager, (*name removed).

She said that she got hired by using keywords from Home Depot's job description in her resume, and posting it on monster.com. In other words -- she got VERY lucky to get noticed and hired.

Take it from me. I am an Air Force veteran with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and more than 8 years of retail experience, and I can't even get an interview.

WITH THOSE QUALIFICATIONS, WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO WORK AT HOME DEPOT ????

Another COMPANY DIRECTLY Associated with HD is Harvey Gerstman Associates, previously very well paying now like others LOW wage, Massive Travel, no meal or gas money, stay away from this one.

Why do you think I am not applying there anymore? No one knows such a big box company is that bad. After you sample a taste or two, you know who they are and how they treat people.

I currently work at the Corporate Home Depot in Atlanta and I can tell you without a doubt it is the worst company I've ever worked for. Everyone in my department is either in the process of leaving or looking to get out. This is not a company you want to work for.

I believe you. I applied twice: the first time and the last time.
I don't even shop there anymore. I shop at Lowe's. If you shop at HD you know their employees are not happy.

Gave up with them and got a real job

Already had. Got a job at Lowe's

HR Dude in Gainesville, Virginia said: I believe you. I applied twice: the first time and the last time.
I don't even shop there anymore. I shop at Lowe's. If you shop at HD you know their employees are not happy.

Im pretty happy working at home depot, they have lots of room to advance if you work hard enough to earn a promotion. You will start out at the bottom but if you have the drive, desire, motivation, etc you can quickly rise through the ranks.

By the way they also give a 10% discount over a competitors prices on the same product so if you find something really cheap at lowes you can take the ad to home depot and get a 10% discount over the price that lowes is advertising.

I am glad you are happy working for HD. I have never work for HD and will never consider working for this company. Good for you and I am happy for you.

However, I will pay the extra money to shop at Lowe's and work for Lowe's. I cannot compare the two company, but judging from the way I was treated when applying for job. I beg to differ from your experience.

I shop at Lowes to, never again will I buy anything at Home Depot

I think Indeed should ban them from running ads for jobs

Question, did any of you who applied for a management position ever get your references checked? I applied for an HR manager job in Canada and have gone the whole nine yards - the phone interviews, testing, group interview, store interview, and then they (an external vendor) called and asked for 3 business references which I provided. That was 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard a peep from anyone. And because the process has been so disjointed I'm not even sure quite frankly who to contact. I left a message for the original recruiter a few days ago but no reply. I was so sure an offer was pending but now I'm afraid it's a NO. Reading these stories I'm not sure what to think now.... sounds like there are definitely issues with the hiring process. Would love to hear if anyone else got this far and if so, what was the outcome - a job offer, a rejection, or complete silence?

John-Miami said: I shop at Lowes to, never again will I buy anything at Home Depot

I think Indeed should ban them from running ads for jobs

We have added a new feature!
You can click the "hide" link in the job description and the job listings for a company will be removed from your searches. Your hidden companies will be stored in your preferences.

Thanks!

Audrey (Host) in Austin, Texas said: We have added a new feature!
You can click the "hide" link in the job description and the job listings for a company will be removed from your searches. Your hidden companies will be stored in your preferences.

Thanks!

Now that is a good thing. I aways got tired of either locking out all staffing agencies versus having to scroll through those that I have already decided I wouldn't work for. Thanks, Indeed.

Home Depot do a lot of promoting within the company

Jody in Milford, Pennsylvania said: Applying for Home Depot is a JOKE....those of us that have experience and education can't pass their Robot test. In other words, their test is geared towards certain personalities and if you don't fit their criteria...then you might as well not waste your time...they don't know what valuable assets they are missing out on..

Apparently the owner of HD is no better at picking people for his football team ! I delight in seeing these "icons" make money at something, and then proceed to screw-up everthing they've built from then on. Like the commercial said: "You don't know Jack" ! It wouldn't surprise me to see these and similar chains go under within 10 years - they s_ _ k at mgt. !

HOME DEPOT HAS AN OWNER? AND A FOOTBALL TEAM? YES THEY REALLY MISSED A CATCH PASSING UP SOMEONE WITH YOUR EDUCATION.

Apply at the store to get the best opportunity for placement...that's what I did....5 years later I am still working there. Just with any company, HD has some problems. We've lost some people to Lowe's, but a few of them soon found out that it wasn't much better there than at HD.

Home Depot does NOT have a football team!! FYI

OR AN OWNER THAT WAS MY POINT!

I love how people leave comments on here and don't know what they're talking about...........

Would love to hear from anyone who works at the HD on racine dr. here in wilmington. I'm thinking of applying to the HD on carolina beach road.

i am currently employed at the home depot as department supervisor of department 21 (lumber). i found the hiring process at HD to be extremely quick, and i was given a surprisingly high hourly wage. Seven months after being hired on as a sales associate i was promoted to dept. supervisor. maybe you guys arent being hired or given decent wages because you are the kind of people that like to sit on your computers all day whining about how nothing is being handed to you on a silver platter. After being hired on i worked my ass off and easily seperated myself from most of the other associates as a hard worker. i also actively sought advice from management on the various sales reports and how to properly read them. Retail may not be the most glamorous job, but it is an environment in which anyone can succeed.

jordan in Tacoma, Washington said: i am currently employed at the home depot as department supervisor of department 21 (lumber). i found the hiring process at HD to be extremely quick, and i was given a surprisingly high hourly wage. Seven months after being hired on as a sales associate i was promoted to dept. supervisor. maybe you guys arent being hired or given decent wages because you are the kind of people that like to sit on your computers all day whining about how nothing is being handed to you on a silver platter. After being hired on i worked my ass off and easily seperated myself from most of the other associates as a hard worker. i also actively sought advice from management on the various sales reports and how to properly read them. Retail may not be the most glamorous job, but it is an environment in which anyone can succeed.

BY THE WAY, THIS COMMENT HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH HD'S MANAGEMENT HIRING PROCESS. I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER ON HOW IT WORKS. ITS ONLY THOSE WHO ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT BEING HIRED AT LOWER LEVEL POSITIONS THAT ARE ANNOYING THE HELL OUT OF ME.

I absolutely agree with you on this Jordan, I applied was interviewed, and started in about 3 weeks. I receive a very competitive wage to the construction industry from where I was laid off. The hours, benefits, fellow employees and Finally I look forward to going to work every day! I am not utterly exhausted when I get home.

I agree with you that those who are whining in this forum fail to accept that they are simply not qualified for the positions for which they apply. I went round & round in this forum a few months ago about that and got many insulting and immature replies. Further proof why the negative repliers are not hired. Congratulations on your job and good luck with it!

James Robert Smith in Monroeville, New Jersey said: What does everyone think about the four employees of HD getting fired for apprehending a Professional Ring of Shoplifters? Their firing came after the employees had received letters of commendation from HD & the Police Department. HD reason: "The action of those employees could have caused injury to other employees and customers. By the way, The Ring attempted to steal $2,500.00 in wire.

i like that

i need a job

As a new college student I applied at HD hoping to get a better paying job than the one I had. After my third application I finally got a call back and was hired. I started at $8.00/hr to be a cashier. I thought it was great until I learned that other kids my age were staring at $10.00/hr because they worked the "floor". I became a Head Cashier later and was treated like crap because someone else wanted my job. I then moved to the "floor". As a girl in a hardware store it was rough.On top of having customers doubt you because you're a girl, I had a jerky DH telling me that working my butt off wasn't good enough. Over three years I went from $8.00/hr to $9.75/hr and I was the one that had to train the new guys that started at $11.00/hr!!! I felt that managment never really appriecated many people there. One person was recognized more that anyone else I've ever seen. Not only that, this person made the rest of us look like idiots by coming up to us while we were helping a customer and stealing them away.I was thinking that it was just the managment at this store and that other stores had to be better. However, I see that it is hit or miss.

I had the same experiece. I was told one thing,and got the complete opposite. My schedule was NOTHING as we discussed. When I said something about it, I was punished with being given 4 hrs the next week! It was the worst place I have ever worked im my life. To add to it, my co-workers tried to completely sabotage me, my manager didn't bother to make a point to introduce himself to me until after a month, and HR didn't care one bit about what goes on. The place is aweful.

I had the same experiece. I was told one thing,and got the complete opposite. My schedule was NOTHING as we discussed. When I said something about it, I was punished with being given 4 hrs the next week! It was the worst place I have ever worked im my life. To add to it, my co-workers tried to completely sabotage me, my manager didn't bother to make a point to introduce himself to me until after a month, and HR didn't care one bit about what goes on. The place is aweful.