Merchandise often rotates with the seasons, and this results in the warehouse needing new storing techniques that work with the ever-changing products. The ideal candidate will have experience arranging stock in a way that is easy for other staff to retrieve when it is time to ship items out. The applicant’s answer will allow you to gauge how comfortable they are coming up with a plan to sort and store goods without the guidance of a supervisor. What to look for in an answer:

• Experience developing and implementing organizational strategies
• Ability for a high level of organization
• Critical and strategic thinking skills

Inventory clerks handle merchandise before it is scanned into the warehouse management system. They often have the ability to trash items from the application as well. The applicant’s answer to this question will help you determine how their moral values align with those of the company’s. Focus on how the individual handled the situation and what kind of impact it made on their work life. What to look for in an answer:

• Examples of ethical behavior
• Honesty and self-confidence
• Understanding of the importance of morals and company policies

While warehouse management systems help record items checked in and out of the application, many products fall through the cracks and wind up costing the company more money in the long run. Any inventory clerk knows the importance of physical product counts as it allows you to update the numbers to reflect items thrown away or ones that never scanned into the system in the first place. What to look for in an answer:

• Experience maintaining records
• Basic mathematical skills
• Excellent communication skills

Companies are constantly growing, which results in the expansion of buildings and employees transferring to new facilities. Inventory clerks are typically the first employees to head over to new warehouses as products will need to be scanned in before other staff can perform their duties. The ideal applicant will have experience with things changing quickly, such as going to a site as an away team or learning a new process for checking in items. What to look for in an answer:

• Examples of experiencing a changing workplace
• Ability to adapt and go with the flow
• Eagerness to gain knowledge of new processes

Inventory clerks spend a majority of their time using technology to keep their building as well as upper management informed on the merchandise. Warehouse management systems are used to track how much of a product is available and where it is located within the facility. Emails and spreadsheets are often used for communicating about specific projects with supervisors. The applicant’s response will allow you to gauge what applications they have experience with, their level of expertise and understanding of basic computer functions. What to look for in an answer:

• Computer skills
• Ability to learn new software
• Working knowledge of warehouse management systems

This question can help you understand how well the candidate understands the roles and requirements of the job. Their answer can indicate how good of a fit they could be for your company and whether their skill set is in agreement with the needs of the position. Their response can also be a good indicator of what the candidate feels are their strongest attributes and how they can contribute to the success of your organization. You should look for an inventory clerk who is organized and can develop plans to maximize space and help sort and store different items.

The candidate's response should emphasize:

• Organizational skills
• Experience implementing organizational strategies
• Critical thinking skills

A response to this question may look like this: