Office Depot Hiring Overview For 2023

Is Office Depot on the Ban the Box list?

No, Office Depot isn’t on the Ban the Box list. What’s more, they haven’t signed the Fair Chance Business Pledge. Both these initiatives help former felons apply for work. Here’s how:

Ban the Box — Companies on this list remove the criminal record check box from their application forms. In other words, they look at your skills before your criminal history.

Fair Chance Business Pledge — Businesses take the Pledge to show that they treat all job candidates fairly. This applies to people with a criminal record too.

Here’s some good news! Office Depot follows the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Their job postings state that they “will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.” This should make it easier to get a job at Office Depot with a felony in California.

Does Office Depot have special programs for hiring felons?

No, they don’t. This doesn’t tell us the whole story of how does Office Depot hire felons, though!

What are the odds someone with a felony will get hired?

The odds are average in our opinion because:

• Their official policy for hiring people with criminal records isn’t available.
• Office Depot has no special programs to hire ex-felons.
• They don’t support Ban the Box or the Fair Chance Business Pledge, but they follow the Fair Chance Ordinance of San Francisco.
• There are online comments that you can get a job at Office Depot with a felony, and that you can’t.

What are some entry-level jobs?

Do you want to know how to get hired at Office Depot without a high school diploma? Try one of their entry-level jobs. Here’s an example:

Sales Consultant

• Provides customer service, sells merchandise, and uses product and service knowledge to advise customers.
• High school diploma is preferred, but not required.
• Demonstrates integrity and trust, and is positive and engaging with others.
• Is approachable, action-oriented and self-learning.

Tips to get hired here with a felony

Sign in to Office Depot and create a profile here. Read up about the company and its culture. This helps you know what they look for in an employee. Write your resume in a way that says you’re a good fit to work at the company. Here are some basic tips:

• Start with a few statements that summarize your character like “honest, hard-working and willing to learn.”
• If you worked with others, even just one person, say you worked as part of a team.
• Talk about your ability to handle difficult people with comments like “handled challenging customer complaints” or “demonstrated professionalism with coworkers.”
• Show your enthusiasm for your jobs with descriptive language like “diligently” and “actively.”

Don’t stop there! Take a look at the Sales Consultant job description above. Qualities like having integrity and being approachable are helpful for any position. You need to wow them! Decide on a few personal stories that show these qualities.

Prepare for your interview by practicing answers to some common questions. Here are our top picks:

1.Could you tell us about your previous experience in sales or customer service?

• If your experience is limited, say so, but let them know you’re eager to learn. Include anything related to dealing with customers. For example, did you have a paper route when you were a kid or sell raffle tickets at school?

2.Why do you believe you would be a good fit at Office Depot?

• Keep your response as close to the job description as possible. The company is looking for people who want to learn. Therefore, talk about your motivation to improve yourself. This might be the perfect time to say how you’re getting your life back together after incarceration.

3.What are some of your weaknesses?

• The best way to answer this question is to turn it around a bit. Be truthful about where you need to do better. Then describe what you’re doing specifically to work on it.

4.What accomplishments are you proud of?

• Dig deep and find whatever you can that shows how far you’ve come. Here’s another chance to say how you’ve paid your debts for your criminal past.

We’re not sure officially what the company’s background check includes. However, they may check any answers you give in your interview, such as your education and work experience. They also will verify that you’re legally able to work in the United States.

Take a look at what we know about how background checks are done across the United States:

The states below only want to know about any history of crimes in the last seven years:

• California
• Colorado*
• Kansas*
• Maryland*
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire*
• New York*
• Texas*
• Washington*

(* sometimes certain pay or salary bracket positions require one.)

Here are states that won’t look at not guilty verdicts:

• Alaska
• California
• Hawaii
• Indiana (limited check)
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• New York

Keep in mind that these states consider your whole criminal record, including charges where you were found not guilty:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• DC
• Delaware
• Florida
• Idaho
• Indiana (extensive check)
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Jersey
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Company ratings

Office Depot has 3 out of 5 stars based on more than 4,700 Glassdoor reviews. Even so, only 45% say they’d recommend the company to a friend. Here is the reasoning behind the rating:

Pros:

• Friendly coworkers and great work environment.
• Excellent first job experience in customer service.
• Decent pay and benefits and flexible hours.

Cons:

• Not enough paid holidays.
• Difficult to get full-time hours.
• Some upper management not skilled for roles.

What felonies Office Depot will not hire

We’re not sure. Our research showed some charges that might cause you more issues than others, but nothing from the company on what would tank your application immediately.

What felony convictions might have a hard time getting hired here?

Past offenses that have anything to do with theft will cause you difficulty getting hired. This is because you’ll be selling some products that are easily smuggled out of the building. Have you been convicted of fraud or embezzled money from a business? Then you must explain what happened and why it’s not something you’re going to repeat if the company hires you.

A criminal record that includes assault will also be a problem. The company wants staff who are cooperative — that includes with customers, coworkers and supervisors. To get a job at Office Depot with a felony where someone was harmed, you will have to convince the hiring manager you can get along well with others.

Does Office Depot hire sex offenders?

They might, but they haven’t made it known. We just don’t know.

Does Office Depot drug test?

Prepare to do a drug test. There are online comments from staff that you’ll need to pass one to be hired. Plus, you may be given one if you have an accident on the job.

Have you applied for a job or worked here? Share your experiences!

We’d love to hear from you! Your knowledge can really help others.