I first talked to Macy's and Bloomindale's reps at a career fair at my school and gave them my resume. After attending an info session on campus (where you got to hear about the interview process, what the program was about, and ask questions), I was invited to an on campus interview. This consisted of two interviews: a quasi case study and a behavioral interview. The case study gave you a "score card," showing you the abilities and weaknesses of four employees. You had to choose one to personally coach, explain why, and give coaching strategies to help them improve. The behavioral interview was pretty standard -- explain about your experience, talk about your resume, and why you're interested in working in retail.
Next, I was invited to take more online assessments, including a behavioral assessment and a more mathematical/logic based assessment (a lot of it was based on proportions/ratios -- ie: if a truck can be stocked in 9 minutes, how many trucks can be stocked in 20 minutes, etc).
The final round interview lasted for 2 full days and was an overall pleasant experience (all of my interviewers were fun to talk to and welcoming) -- Macy's puts you up in your own hotel room, gave us a comprehensive store tour of the Union Square flagship store, and provided us with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The first day was an introduction: explaining the agenda, giving a presentation on what the EDP program entailed from a former EDP, store tour, and dinner. Be sure on the store tour (given by the recruiting team to ask questions and engage them in conversation to stand out).
The next day we had interviews all day. You are divided into groups of about 10 people and rotate between four different interviews, each lasting about 30-45 minutes: two 1:1 interviews and two group based case study interviews. You are also given a short powerpoint presentation about the logistics of the EDP program and can ask questions.
One 1:1 interview is purely behavioral, another is behavioral but they put you on the spot and make you choose between two extremes how you would describe yourself/your work ethic -- for example: do you like to work at a fast pace to resolve several problems quickly (but possibly miss details) or work slowly to make sure you examine every detail to find a solution (but solve less problems in a day).
One of the group interviews measured how you answered as an individual and includes being given a list of departments within a single Macy's store, the strong points and weaknesses of each department, and their statistics on how well sales are doing over a period of time, as well as some background information on the store location. You had to choose three departments to focus your attention on, explain why you chose them, and give strategies on how you would help the department to raise sales (think about the location of the store, the time period -- aka whether the holiday season is coming up, whether it's hot/cold, and then also the client you're selling to).
The second group interview gives you a similar set of facts (lists departments, pros/cons, how they're doing in sales), and you are assigned a single department that you are managing. You are then told that the VP of the store is going to be hiring a new person, and each person in the group is given an opportunity to present why their department should have the new hire. The group then discusses everyone else's presentations and decides as a group where the new hire should be placed. The final decision is then presented by a single person to the interviewer, who is watching the entire time and judging you on not only how you make your presentation, but also how you interact with everyone else in the group.
They notify you within two weeks after the two day interview if you have the job or not. While the initial first round interview is very straight forward, the final round interview is exhausting just because you had to be alert, engaging, and socialize with both your competition and the recruitment team constantly for two entire days. Best of luck!