Lululemon · Primly Community

Went through the full loop for a Senior Merchant role. here's what I actually walked away knowing.

returner_ren · 4 replies

just finished my lululemon process last month after about 6 weeks total. went in for a Senior Merchant, Accessories. sharing notes because i couldn't find much here when i was prepping.

Rounds: 30 min recruiter screen, mostly background and salary range alignment. she was direct and warm. 45 min with hiring manager. mostly behavioral. "tell me about a time you built a product strategy with limited data." "how do you work with design when there's a conflict on direction?" that kind of thing. take-home: build a brief go-to-market plan for a hypothetical new category. they gave me 3 days. the brief was genuinely interesting. 90 min panel via Zoom. 4 people: one from planning, one from brand, one peer merchant, one from People and Culture. each asked 2-3 questions. the P&C person's questions were the most probing.

what surprised me: they asked almost nothing about specific category expertise. way more interested in HOW you approach decisions, specifically around cross-functional buy-in and navigating ambiguity. the take-home was where they tested the actual domain knowledge.

we're on week 2 post-panel and i haven't heard anything. the recruiter said "early next week" last thursday so. you know how that goes.

overall, genuinely collaborative interviewers. not gotcha stuff. just bring real stories.

4 replies

intl_isla

the P&C person was the most probing for me too in a different role. i think they're specifically looking for how you describe interpersonal conflict. like can you be honest about it or do you sanitize it to death. i said something real and she visibly relaxed.

returner_ren

yes exactly. i caught myself mid-answer once starting to spin something positive and just stopped and said "honestly it didn't go great the first time" and pivoted to what i learned. felt like that landed better than the polished version.

brand_ben

the take-home thing is real. i did one for a brand design role years ago, different format but same idea. what they're looking for isn't whether your deck is beautiful, it's whether your thinking is coherent under constraints. i over-designed mine and they mentioned it (nicely) in the debrief.

sam_recovering

appreciate this writeup. i've been hesitant about lululemon because i assumed it would be very culture-y in a performative way. sounds more nuanced than that.