In recent years, home improvement projects and DIY tasks have become a hobby to many USA citizens. As a result, folks are now shying away from hiring experts and are embracing the handy work duties.
It’s a fun activity to undertake with your wife and kids to better improve your home situation while bonding. Businesses that have benefitted from this shift are the home improvement stores.
In particular, Home Depot which is the largest home improvement retailer in the USA. Its headquarter is located in Cobb County, Georgia.
The store supplies construction tools, products, and services at an affordable price. There have been speculations concerning the discount Home Depot Employees get. Let’s first clear out the air,
Employees do not get any discount in the Home Depot Store. However, they have access to an employee website that they can order from and get a discount.
History Of Home Depot
Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank first come up with the idea of Home Depot in 1978 over a cup of coffee. They thought of a superstore that would provide reasonably priced products and services and knowledge people needed to create their dream homes.
The two co-founders, later on, took a loan from the bank to start working on their dream giant store. Ken Langone, an investment banker, and merchandise expert, Pat Farah played a significant role during the early stages of Home Depot development.
In the following year, 1979, two stores opened in Atlanta. The gigantic stores measuring 60,000 square meters were filled with plenty of items. This gave them an upper hand in terms of competition.
The store had well-trained associates, who could teach customers how to handle different power tools, and perform other handy jobs. They began to offer customer workshops, DIY training, and one-on-one training sessions with their customers.
When the store started picking up, the ‘Bill of rights was introduced by the co-founders. It assured the customers of the best assortment quantity and price among their products.
In 1981 Home Depot went public, and the co-founders devoted themselves to give back to society. They did so by helping USA veterans and communities across the country. Currently, Home Depot has more than 2,200 stores spread across three countries.
Tips To Help You Win Your Interview At Home Depot
Finally, you have received that call you have been eagerly waiting for from Home Depot. You need to set up an interview! Well done with the application!
Home Depot is one of the largest home improvement retailers; you should expect to find a ton of other interviewees.
What will help you stick out among the rest? Here are some tips to increase your chances of emerging a winner at the interview.
1. Be honest
People are often tempted to lie on their application letters and during the interviews. Don’t! It has always been a bad idea. What happens if, during an interview, you are asked to demonstrate a particular skill you lied about?
Come clean with what you can and cannot do. After all, the store offers training to all its associates to ensure they are well equipped with all the required skills to satisfy their customers.
2. Showcase your unique skills
What do you excel at? Home Depot’s employees are their key to success. Each one of them has a unique addition to the team that propels them forward. To stand out among the rest, you need to show what sets you apart from the rest.
3. Be a team player
Teamwork is always crucial in any job interview. You need to show the willingness to engage not only customers but also other employees. During the interview, you need to demonstrate that you positively take feedback and readiness to work with others.
4. Are you flexible?
Customer needs are constantly changing, and to stay relevant, you need to be adaptable. During the interview, you can share an experience from your previous job where you were quick on your feet and pivoted on a project to stay afloat.
Any employer would appreciate an employee who is always ready for change and contributes with new creative ideas to serve customers.
5. Be customer-oriented
The center focus of Home Depot is customer satisfaction. You need to demonstrate excellent customer service skills to come out successfully. And nothing is complicated here; just be appreciative, humble, and grateful.
6. Giving back to the society
Home Depot volunteers nearly 10,000 hours a week, giving back to society. If you want to be one of their team members, you have to show your readiness to give back. It starts by going out of your way to ensure that your customer is satisfied with the services you are offering.
Home Depot Employee Benefits
The store has benefit plans for all its employees, whether part-time or full-time. The benefits you receive as an employee will depend on the level you are on the cooperate ladder.
Full-time hourly and salaried employees
This category of employees is insured under the following areas;
- Dental
- Health
- Vision
- Life
- Accidental death and dismemberment
- Pet
- Disability
- Prescription drug
Part-Time employees
- Life insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Short-time disability insurance
Group benefits offered by Home Depot include;
- Homeowner insurance
- Veterinary services
- Legal service plan
Here are some of the financial benefits the store offers to its associates;
- Spending account
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Direct deposit bank stimulant
- FutureBuilder 401(k) plan
Some of the time-off benefits include;
- Holidays
- Vocation
- Personal days
- Jury duty
- Leaves of absence
- Bereavement days
Things You Didn’t Know About Home Depot
1. They have had quite many different brand slogans
Slogans are used to attract and catch the attention of customers. It is what makes the brand stand out. Often many companies stick to their original slogan during the entire operation time.
This has not been the case with Home Depot; they have changed their slogans multiple times since it was first formed. Some of the previous slogans include:
- The Home Depot, low prices are just the beginning.
- Home Depot; First in home improvement.
- ‘You can do it. We can help.’
- When you are at The Home Depot, you will feel right at home.
Later on, in 2019, the store changed the slogan to ‘more saving. More doing’
2. Home Depot is active in politics
Many businesses in the United States of America hide their political interests, not Home Depot. The company has been known to support Republican candidates by making campaign donations.
Former CEO of the store, Nardelli Bob, was a personal friend to the former US president George W. Bush. He contributed a substantial amount of money to Bush’s champagne.
3. The business is always trying to expand internationally
After having a successful business operation in the USA, Home Depot is now trying to expand internationally. The store first was set in Canada with 180 stores and Mexico with 106 stores. The business in two foreign countries has employed more than 46 0000 citizens.
4. They have had difficulties breaking into the Chinese market
Home Depot has not had luck penetrating the Chinese market. It was due to the cultural difference between the USA and Chinese people. Back at home, in the USA, folks embrace home improvements DIY tasks; this is not the case in China.
There, people believe that manual labor is for the lower classes. And they are reluctant to perform such tasks themselves and opt to seek professionals.
5. Great supporters of USA military
Since the beginning, Home Depot has strongly supported the community and particularly the military of the USA. The store has a charity wing called The Home Depot Foundation that heads the philanthropic activities.
All veterans are given a 10% discount at any Home Depot store. The store has spent more than 200 million in money, material, and services trying to help United States veterans.
6. In 2014, they suffered a major security breach
There was a security breach in 2014 that almost destroyed the reputation of Home Depot. Financial Details of its customers and other records of its employees were interfered with.
Investigations revealed that more than 56 million credit card numbers were compromised.- Ever since, Home Depot has come up with measures to ensure that the same never happens again.
They have juiced up their electronic payment system. Affected customers were offered a free year of credit monitoring.
7. Home Depot is one of the largest employers in the USA
Home depot has close to 1 978 stores spread across the United States of America and its territories. Consequently, it has employed around 385,000 as per the year 2016. This makes them one of the largest employers in the USA.
Conclusion
Many home improvement channels have encouraged Americans to want to furnish and repair their homes themselves. This has prompted the growth of home improvement stores.
One of the well-known stores is the Home Depot, co-founded by two friends bonding over a cup of coffee. While Home Depot may not be giving its employees discounts, they are undoubtedly enjoying a generous benefits package.
If you are eyeing a job at the store, the tips shared in this write-up will surely increase your chances during that interview.