It started out by applying online and doing a test which took anywhere from 20 minutes to half an hour.
Two or three weeks passed when I got a call from a manager. He asked if I was still interested in working for Walmart and then proceeded to ask me some questions such as "Why do you want to work for Walmart?" etc. He then invited me to a group interview the next day.
I wore a tucked in dress shirt and pants (not jeans) for the interview. To my surprise, the other four applicants dressed as if they had just come off the street; a couple of them were visibly taken aback by my apparel. When we got inside to the training room, there were 5 or 6 managers sitting on one side of the room and there were 10 empty chairs on the other side. The managers were dressed just as I was (plus a tie) so I felt at ease that I wasn't "over-dressed". Five of the chairs had name-tags on them (for us). The managers introduced themselves in a very nice, laid back manner. A couple of them seemed nervous themselves. We were eventually told to learn about the other people in the room and teach the managerial panel about them. The two women paired up and the three of us men just grouped together. After presenting our new acquaintances, we were given some information about the Walmart working environment and why its a great place to work.
We were later paired off into three groups (a manager paired with one of us) and were instructed to create a scenario where one person is a customer is being difficult about a product, and the other is a sales associate who resolves the situation. The products provided were humorous: some Star Wars slippers, an infant's mirror, etc. When me and my partner acted out our scenario I made some joke about the alternative slippers being "only available in Invisible" or something to that effect and made the room laugh, which was a good stress reliever for everyone.
Afterwards, we were briefly educated on the nature of the Walmart MasterCard. Then, to our surprise, we were told to "sell it" to one of the managers. We barely had enough information retained about it so this proved most difficult, although they seemed pretty relaxed about it and encouraged the couple of people who had forgotten a major element. Then we did a "Speed Date" interview where each manager had a few questions they got to ask each person. Each person also got to fill out their availability. They told us that if we were available for an entire day, to just leave that day blank. When that was done, a manager geared it down and explained how every meeting ends with the "Walmart Cheer" - which basically consists of spelling Walmart and including the store number somewhere. And doing it very, very loudly. We were dismissed after that and told we would receive a call the next day as to whether we were hired or not.
The next day (Friday) came and passed. The weekend went by without a call. It was on the Monday when I was out of the house that they called. The message said to call so-and-so back before 4:00. I called five times before the automated machine would actually get me through to an associate. I asked for so-and-so and they asked me if I would come in for "a third and final interview" the next day at 11, which was strange because I had only been to one interview. I showed up the next day on what happened to be Remembrance Day, so there was a moment of silence at 11. Twenty minutes later a man came out, shook my hand and led me back to the training room to a meeting table. He dismissed two others who were sitting there and he essentially gave me a rundown of my starting wage ($11.50) and my job description (electronics department). He made a remark along the lines of "So I guess electronics is more in your field, huh?" - which was correct. However, in the previous interview I had indicated that I have no preference of position, and there was no indication given that my field of interest was technology. This is also my first 'job' to speak of, previously being self-employed. I glanced at the stack of paper under his hand and realized it was full of information about me; people and organizations I have been associated with, events I have been a part of, and more. I still wonder how they could get so much data on a person.
I was required to fill out a background check and three references. He brought up my availability and said, "So it looks like you're not available on the weekends?" I informed him that I was available all day on the weekends, and that the managers previously said that leaving it blank indicated full availability. At this, he shook his head vigorously and said "no, no, no... you want to put 7 to 11." He also explained how they no longer hired just for the Christmas season, and the only way I could really be terminated around that time is if I really, really sucked at my job. They called my references later that week and scheduled an orientation date.