Job interview for loss prevention position

[RDEOC]

Hi all,

I recently landed an interview with Sears for a position in loss prevention, and it's a couple of weeks from now, so I have time to prepare until then. Also, spare me your personal opinions on the company, if you would be so kind.

I have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask so I can better prepare myself for the interview.

Firstly, how should I dress for the interview? I rock the spiffy business-man look, but maybe something else is more befitting for the occasion?

What other kind of questions should I expect? I'm banking on "why do you want this job", "what skills do you possess that would be valuable to the position", and "what would you do in X situation?"

Is there anything else I should know?

[marinepilot]

Hi all,

I recently landed an interview with Sears for a position in loss prevention, and it's a couple of weeks from now, so I have time to prepare until then. Also, spare me your personal opinions on the company, if you would be so kind.

I have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask so I can better prepare myself for the interview.

Firstly, how should I dress for the interview? I rock the spiffy business-man look, but maybe something else is more befitting for the occasion?

What other kind of questions should I expect? I'm banking on "why do you want this job", "what skills do you possess that would be valuable to the position", and "what would you do in X situation?"

Is there anything else I should know?

Sounds like you've got it all figured out. Keep with the business look for an interview. Doesn't matter if you're interviewing for a ditch digging position, the business look is never wrong for a professional interview.

Don't know about the questions, have never applied to be a LP officer before.

Best of luck.

[Lawson]

Expect them to ask about what you think loss prevention is. A lot of people think loss prevention is just catching shoplifters and completely ignore the internal loss aspect. You may get some questions that they will use to gauge your decision making and job knowledge skills such as, "what would you look for when looking for a shoplifter?" or "what part of the store would you watch most?" etc...

Good luck.

[MikeG]

Expect them to ask about what you think loss prevention is.

The Sears quarterly balance sheet clearly shows they have no idea what loss prevention is.

[McNulty]

The Sears quarterly balance sheet clearly shows they have no idea what loss prevention is.

I had a buddy that worked at Sears and he really enjoyed it. Not sure if he actually got any progress made in the actual "loss prevention" aspect at that store, but he liked the job.

[Joeyd6]

I worked there all through college and after for a total of ten years. Its a very organized LP department who has their ducks in a row, where they actually have a training program. When I started it was 10% internal cases, and 90% shoplifter. By the time I left, it was reverse.

We ran investigated some pretty neat stuff from idiots who use Sears like a tool rental (aka constant buy and return ration of 100% with item being used) and shutting them down; folks not using the pick-up kisok on purpose and then trying to get a second item or "retunring" something they picked-up whihc did not show; associates who gave unauthorized discounts; associates mis-using their discount cards; associates stealing from the till; major shoplifting/return rings; etc.... A guy stealing the boom box with a retail price of $200 cost the store about $75, yet the associate who rings them out is taking $100 a shift from the till! The internals and major scams cost a lot more than the rare shoplifters. Besides, a good floor associate can deter most shoplifting.

Wear a suit...be honest and open and you will be fine.

[MikeG]

The Sears quarterly balance sheet clearly shows they have no idea what loss prevention is.

I had a buddy that worked at Sears and he really enjoyed it. Not sure if he actually got any progress made in the actual "loss prevention" aspect at that store, but he liked the job.

I was being facetious that they were losing money per quarter and operating the company at a loss, that's not going to be related to the LP department much except for staffing.

[McNulty]

I was being facetious that they were losing money per quarter and operating the company at a loss, that's not going to be related to the LP department much except for staffing.

I know what you meant.

[Butterfly32770]

I worked LP at the Base Exhange at Buckley AFB for 3 years, it was a lot of fun and also a lot of boredom. I vaguely recall my interview and the questions were somewhat like this: if you saw your grandmother shoplifting, what would you do? What do you think LP does? Describe a typical shoplifter. Other things of that nature, then he said,"One last easy question, why should I hire you?" Even on a military base we caught numerous shoplifters, in addition to the even larger number of employee theft cases. People are going to try to get away with things no matter where you are. The thing that people didn't realize though, is that stealing on base equals stealing government property, which gets you sent to Federal court instead of county court.
Good luck on your interview.

[Joeyd6]

You mean a military court correct ? The one with JAG? Military courts are a whole different world than the federal courts!

[MikeG]

You mean a military court correct ? The one with JAG? Military courts are a whole different world than the federal courts!

Wouldn't that depend on whether the offender was subject to the UCMJ? I thought civilians went to a Federal magistrate court for these types of offenses. Military went through JAG. Is that not correct?

[Joeyd6]

Wouldn't that depend on whether the offender was subject to the UCMJ? I thought civilians went to a Federal magistrate court for these types of offenses. Military went through JAG. Is that not correct?

I only have experience with ONE army base in NJ where I saw "civilians." JAG was handeling civilian member of a enlisted/officers family and government contractors for misdemeanors and traffic. I was told by the MP there Visitors with no ties go to the federal magistrate. NJ is so screwed up and that base is a disaters from every standpoint. I was hoping to get insight.

I have prosecuted several enlisted/officers "federally" for major stuff both in JAG and federal court in NY, NJ and CT. I have found JAG is 10x easier to deal with when you consider all aspects. But all those are single cases on set dates with nobody else there.

[paxman]

RDEOC,

I went through this process not too long ago myself for a district LP position. If you still have questions feel free to PM me and I will do my best to help you out.

[highwayman]

I have "heard" about Sears that they tend to hire off duty Police officers, naturally because Police officers can usually read body language, understand psychology better, and conduct themselves more professional.

They also hire plain regular looking floorwalkers to blend in with the shoppers and assist with the stops.

For the interview, you need to get the "feel" of place, observe, don't be gung-ho, don't dress like you are going to a wedding, but don't be too casual either, they are looking for people who can blend in with the customers, so if you are the right guy they'll know, unless of course the interviewer is a total square.

For example, if you applied at a music store they would hire LPO's who looked and smelled like Bob Marley, ok fine bad example, I meant Britney Spears with 5lbs of metal on their face.

To answer the last question, in my experience as a security guard, I have been to a couple of places where the managers, supervisors, or some security guard were taken away in cuffs every 4-5 months on the job, with that in mind, know that you will be watched until they can trust you, and don't be surprised if corporate suits walk in one day and fire half the crew for stealing, making false returns, paperwork errors, issuing gift cards, under-ringing, anf God knows what else.

You probably got what it takes already for LP otherwise you wouldn't be applying for that field, my best of luck my friend.

[RockemSockem]

There are SOME off duty or former cops who work for them, but that is not the "bulk" of their LP hires. In fact, if anything, the Sears LP culture - as I experienced it during two seperate stints there in the early 2000's and as recently as a year ago - tends to shun law enforcement (only to some degree) since the ultimate "goals" of law enforcement are different - and somtimes at odds - with the company LP mission.

It is a solid position. In my most recent stint with them, I worked with about 5 other guys, plus an LPM in a high traffic, busy retail location. Of the other five, one was a retired probation officer, another had a full time job in a different field but had worked LP part time - for the company - for 15 years, another worked full time LP somewhere else and part time with Sears and had been there for 10 years. My point: many LP people there have longevity. Anyone with a "typical" security or "wanna-be" mentality woudn't get hired or would be shown the door quickly.

JoeyD gives a good overview. I should add to what he said that Sears LP does a lot of investigations into every type of crime imaginable, including homicides. The reason? Whenever something happens on company property there could be civil ramifications as well as criminal. If someone is attacked or if a stop results in the death of a shoplifter, or if someone is kidnapped from a parking lot, Sears LP will work with law enforcement or will conduct a parallel investigation at the same time as law enforcement. Their findings are used to get to the truth of what happened and the company's role in it, which can mitigate civil liability should the company be sued.

In one case that I'm aware of, when stores were being burglarized at night, it was actually Sears investigators who got solid leads and statements and submitted their findings to detectives from a local police department, who submitted them to a prosecutor, resulting in arrests and convictions. Obviously, as a new store level employee you will not be doing those types of investigations. You will learn to conduct shoplifting stops, respond to accidents, and develop basic internal cases. This is the "basic" form of the job and will prepare you for bigger responsibilities as they come up.