Nike Careers: A Guide To Getting Hired At Nike

Its the year 1964, and track athlete Phil Knight had just finished his dissertation at Stanford University on track shoes being produced of higher quality & cheaper price coming out of Japan. His writeup indicated a business model that produces shoes for track athletes manufactured in Japan. His track coach, Bill Bowerman, was also testing different shoe designs such as the “Waffle” shoe that would increase grip and thus speed for his athletes. In this year, the two founded “Blue Ribbon Sports” and, not long after, changed the name to Nike, Inc (take from the greek goddess of victory).

In 2020, Nike employed 76,700 people worldwide. The brand alone is valued at $32 billion making it the most valuable athletic brand.

If you’ve applied to a role at Nike or want to learn more about Nike jobs & how to get one - you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we are going to break down the hiring process for Nike, the type of interview questions you may receive, and the timeline you should expect to go through during your recruitment process at Nike. Let’s jump in!

Nike’s Hiring Process Overview

Nike’s hiring process consists of 4-5 different rounds of interviews with their team members depending on the role you're applying for. The 4-5 rounds of interviews include:

• A Phone Screening with a Recruiter
• A Zoom Manager Interview, possibly in a group setting
• A Zoom Manager 1-on-1 Interview
• Technical Assessment Interview Related To the Role
• Final Team Interview

Although this is the typical hiring process, the amount of interviews differ between roles. As a general rule of thumb, the more senior your role is the more interviews you will undergo.

For In-store & sales associate roles, the interview process is as follows:

• A Phone Screening Interview With A Recruiter
• Manager Interview #1
• Manager Interview #2

For in-store roles such as sales associate, you can expect a shorter interview process with the potential to have to come in-store to be interviewed in person. Additionally, if you are hired, expect a few days of training where they’ll have you learn the process they use in training sales associates

Nike Inc is one of the largest companies in the world and they are always hiring for different roles. Its important to keep in mind that the higher up the position, the less open roles they might have. Nike Inc also prioritizes being a team player and this will be prevalent in every single interview that you go through

Step 1: Applying

Where Can I Apply For A Job At Nike?

Jobs at Nike can often be found across their website which you can find at https://jobs.nike.com/.They also regularly post on their Linkedin page available here. For one central place to find Nike jobs, you can also check out eComportal. You’ll find a huge selection of Nike remote jobs that relate to the eCommerce industry.

How Difficult Is It To Get Hired At Nike?

Nike’s hiring process is rated 2.6 out of 5 by Glassdoor. Out of 2,600 interviews, 12% were rated negative, 74% were rated positive, & about 15% were rated neutral. Nike is constantly hiring for multiple positions across different departments, which makes it a lot easier for anyone to find a job in the role they specialize in. Nike is also very strong in its culture and values, which are mainly circulated around team, competition, striving for greatness, and the values of sports.

Step 2: Interview Process

How Long Does It Take After Applying To Hear Back From Nike?

Depending on the role you are getting hired for, Nike typically has a fast response time. For any athlete interviews, you’ll be asked to meet in-person to be able to assess your skillset & values.

For in-store roles, you’ll undergo a virtual software used to test your behavioral capabilities and also to see if your a good fit for the company culture.

For roles in marketing, design, logistics, admin, product, or engineering - You’ll get a message via email after you’ve submitted an application based on a recruiter interview. The typical response time for these roles is about 1 to 4 weeks.

What Are Some Questions I Can Expect In The Nike Interview Process?

Typically, the questions that the Nike team will ask you when getting interviewed are based on the role that you are getting hired for. You can expect questions directly related to your role that you may have received for similar positions. Overall, common questions that seem to come up a lot regardless of the role being hired for are questions like:

General Questions:

1. Why do you want to work at Nike?

2. Tell me about your past experience? How do you handle stress?

3. Give me an example of how you’ve helped a team member out

4. What would you say is your biggest struggles on a team?

5. What gravitates you towards this company?

For Marketing roles:

1. What do you know about Steve Madden & the way we market ourselves?

2. What has been the most successful campaign you’ve ran in the past? What was the ROI & what deemed it as a success?

3. What does teamwork mean to you?

For Engineering roles:

1. Perform an Agile real-time issue fix
   

For Sales Associate Roles:

1. How do you deal with pressure?
2. Have you ever worked on a team and how was your experience?
3. What would you do if a customer is really upset?
4. Tell me about a work conflict you’ve had and how you resolved it?
5. Who is your favorite Nike athlete and why?

How Long Does It Take To Hear Back From Nike After The First Interview

If the initial interview goes well, the team at Nike will follow up each interview usually within 1-2 weeks time. Since Nike Inc has so many employees, its hiring process is extremely organized. You can expect a second interview in 1 to 2 weeks or a rejected email.

Step 3: Getting Hired

How Long Does The Entire Hiring Process At Nike Take?

Typically, you can expect the entire process to take up to 4 weeks.

We have heard of reports for higher up, managerial roles to take up to 2 months. For roles that are more senior, their process of vetting the candidate will take longer thus the whole hiring process will be longer.

How Long Does It Take To Hear Back From Nike About A Job?

After your final interview, you can expect to hear back within a week's time with either a formal offer or an email letting you know you did not get the role.