META: Read our guide to learn all about jobs and careers at Guitar Center, and get step by step advice on the Guitar Center application and interview!

Are you an up-and-coming musician looking for a day job while you wait for your big break? Our guide to the Guitar Center application, careers, and jobs will help you fill out the application, nail your interview, and get hired!

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the world’s largest retailer of musical instruments and equipment. Since 1964, they’ve focused on providing a large variety of music gear at very reasonable prices. Subsidiaries of Guitar Center include Music & Arts, Musicians Friend, Woodwind Brasswind, and Music123.

Types of Jobs at Guitar Center

There are three categories of jobs at Guitar Center: Retail, Support Center, Distribution Center, and Contact Center. Here are some examples of the jobs available at each.

Retail

Most of the employees you see at a Guitar Center stores are sales associates. They make up the backbone of the company. They receive commission on their sales and are expected to be knowledgeable of all the products in their area.

Most Guitar Center stores also have repair techs on-site to fix musical instruments and equipment, and teachers who give private lessons to students.

Guitar Center offers many incentives to their employees, such as “gig leave” (time off to play shows or record music), merchandise discounts, health benefits, jam space, and organized jam nights with fellow employees.

Support Center

The support center is the Guitar Center corporate headquarters. They handle the back-end operations and have many of the same job openings you’d find at any other big office. If you’re looking for a corporate-style job, but want to work in the music industry, then the Guitar Center support center might be right for you!

Contact Center

The contact center is the customer service headquarters. Here, you’ll provide support to Guitar Center customers, handling anything from returns and exchanges to music questions.

Distribution Center

The distribution center handles shipping, both to stores and directly to customers. You can work in the warehouse or help manage logistics.

The Guitar Center Application

No matter what type of job you’re looking for at Guitar Center, you’ll need to apply through their careers website. We’ll take you step-by-step through the Guitar Center application process.

Finding the right application

The careers website is not very intuitive, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t immediately find what you’re looking for. When you’re on the careers page, you’ll see multiple buttons labeled “Find jobs In Store,” and a few links saying “Find Jobs at Support Center (HQ). Click whichever one is appropriate.

You’ll go to an interactive map with pins in different locations. Zoom into your area, and look for the store or center you’re applying to. Once you click a pin, you’ll see a list of all the job openings in that location. Click the “View” button.

On the window that pops up, click “Apply.” You’ll redirect to a different website, where Guitar Center hosts their job tracking system.

On this next page, you’ll see the full description of the position you’re applying for. Once you’ve confirmed it’s the correct position, click the “Choose Locations” button at the top of the page. Type in your city and state or your zip code, and the radius you want to search in. If there are any stores in that radius that are currently hiring, they’ll come up in a list.

Check the box next to the location you’re applying to, and then click “Apply.”

Sign in or register

Next, you’ll have the option to log in to your LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, or Yahoo account. If you do so, the system will try to import all of your personal information. If you don’t want to link your social media to the job site, you can register with your email address.

Contact information

If you’ve signed in with a social media account, most of your contact information should fill in automatically. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to provide the following information:

Email address
Address
Legal first name
Preferred first name
Legal middle name
Legal last name
Phone number
Check if you want to receive text messages (which can include sales messages, so be careful!)
Alternate phone number (if applicable)

How did you hear about Guitar Center?

Select an option from the drop-down menu to answer this question.

Data protection

You’ll be asked to review and confirm the data protection and privacy policy agreement.

Preliminary questions

You’ll need to answer the following questions:

Are you at least 18?
Have you ever been employed by Guitar Center or one of their subsidiaries?
Highest level of completed education?
Are you willing to participate in a phone interview, manager interview, reference check, and employment assessment?
Do you have a resume to import? If so, that information will populate the employment history section.
Do you sing or play any musical instruments?
If so, please list which instruments you play, how long you’ve been playing, and your level of experience, including vocal range.
Are you able to sight-read music?
Certify that all information is true and accurate

Documents

Next, upload your resume, if you have one. You can also upload a cover letter, which we highly recommend.

EEOC voluntary information

You’ll answer a series of voluntary questions. You can answer honestly, or choose to decline to answer.

Assessment

Next, you’ll have to go through an assessment. It takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to complete. Read each question carefully, and choose the best answer.

There are questions about what you would do in situations with customers, how your most recent manager would describe you, how your friends and colleagues would describe you, and how you see yourself.

Electronic signatures

After you complete the assessment, you’ll fill out some electronic signatures.

E-Signature

You’ll need to complete another e-signature.

Tax Credit screening

The next section will ask you some tax screening questions. You have to answer each question, but at the end, you can choose to opt-out of reporting that information.

Application complete

If you get to this page, it means you finished!

The Guitar Center Interview

Once you’ve completed your Guitar Center application, it can take anywhere from a few days to a few months to hear back, depending on what position you’ve applied for and how busy the store is. If you’re called in for an interview, you should prepare ahead of time by coming up with stories and anecdotes from previous jobs that might be relevant to the interview questions.

Though the dress code at Guitar Center is very casual, you should show up for your interview looking at least semi-professional. If you’re applying for a store position, you should visit the store at some point to see what the current employees are wearing. Make sure your interview-dress fits in with what you saw there.

For a job at the corporate level, you should wear business-appropriate clothes just like you would for any other corporate interview.

To help you prepare for your interview, here are some questions commonly asked by Guitar Center hiring managers, as seen on Glassdoor.

Do you have retail or sales experience?
Do you play an instrument? If so, how long have you been playing, and what type of music do you play? Don’t be surprised if the hiring manager hands you an instrument and asks you to perform. Practice a song ahead of time.
What makes you want to work at Guitar Center?
Why should we hire you?
In the past, how have you handled a specific conflict between yourself and a coworker?
What’s an example of a time you’ve dealt with a difficult customer?
Do you have any experience with musical instrument sales?
How is music a part of your life?
What 10 albums would you take with you on a desert island?
If you could have one item in the store for free, what would you pick and why?
Who are your top three favorite musicians?

If you’re applying for a sales job, you may need to prove your expertise with your chosen instrument. For example:

What’s the difference between a single-coil pickup and a humbucker?
What types of wood are guitars built with?
What types of metal are guitar strings made of?
What’s the difference between an instrument cable and a speaker cable?
What are the standard drum sizes?
What are some high-end brands of acoustic guitars?

Guitar Center Application Careers And Jobs – Step By Step Guide