I applied online. After two weeks I had not heard anything, so I called the store. The manager told me that they were in the process of doing phone interviews, and I should receive a call soon. 5 days later I had an initial phone interview with basic questions of why REI, experience, and availability. At the end of the call I was invited to the hiring clinic at the store. The clinic was 16 interviews for 10 open positions in 4 departments. After a brief ppt presentation of REI overview, we were split into 4 groups of 4 and rotated through 4 stations together. The first station was a mock sale to a customer (fellow interviewee. Second station was a team building activity of pitching a tent with your group in under 12 minutes. Third station was a question session on Customer service. They asked general questions to the group and waited for responses. Fourth station was similar to the third, but with the focus of creating a culture of inclusion. They really wanted to see how you dealt with situations and how you interacted with your peers. It was very casual and fun.

Group interview first, usually wants to make sure you know the hours, flexibility, if you are friendly and outgoing. The more available you are, the more hours you get. It all really comes down to memberships though, if you sell them you get good shifts, if not then don't expect the hours you want. It helps if you smile, are patient and work well on busy days. Don't say you want to work there because you love shopping at REI, that's a quick way to not getting a follow up interview.