Lengthy, detailed and personal.
1. Complete an Expression of Interest form: Simple, not detailed but it basically wants to find out if you understand the fundamental relationship that Chick-fil-A has with its Operators.
2. After 1-3 weeks, if you successfully complete the Expression of Interest Form by demonstrating you understand what Chick-fil-A is about and what it means to be an Operator you will be invited to complete a 25+ page application detailing your life story, your goals, dreams and reasons for wanting to go into business with Chick-fil-A. They ask for personal financial balance sheet as well. This is very time consuming and they give you about 60 days to complete it. Leave no stone unturned here because every possible risk factor about you will be discussed. If you do not mention it here, it will be discovered eventually. Be honest and be yourself. Chick-fil-A is looking for five main things: Character, Chemistry, Competence, an Entrepreneurial Spirit, and a Growth Mindset. I would argue a sixth characteristic, Leadership, which is critical for moving forward in the selection process.
3. After 1-2 months, if your 25-page life story aligns with Chick-fil-A's vision of a successful Operator they will invite you to complete a Video Teleconference Interview with pre-recorded questions. In this step you will have the chance to answer some of the same questions you were asked in the written interview. This time however, you will be recorded live. You will have limited to time prepare yourself for each answer because you cannot pause the interview. Once its starts, it does not stop except for 20 seconds between each question. Have all your notes in front of you for a quick review before answering the questions. Again, the interview never stops and you cannot pause it.
4. After 1-2 months, if you are able to successfully talk about how you think you align with Chick-fil-A as their next successful Operator then you will be invited to have a phone conversation with a real person. Keep in mind that up until this point, Chick-fil-A is still heavily relying upon Contractors to screen their pool of applicants. At this point the pool of applicants has dwindled from about 30,000 (on an annual basis) to less than 5,000. They still have a lot of work to do to figure out who they will invite to Atlanta for in person interviews! In this interview, the interviewer did a "Character" interview. None of the questions had to do with running a business successfully but rather had everything to do with who I was and how I became the person that I am today. Some studies have shown that 90% of the time that a hire does not work out is because of reasons associated with character as opposed to competence in the field. Chick-fil-A has such a large pool of candidates to choose from they can be extremely selective! If your character (as interpreted from your life story) presents too large of a risk then they will simply continue with other candidates. And by character, this does not just mean "making the right decisions" in life but also "why you made the decisions in life that you did." Even if you made some decisions for the "right" reasons they may not be aligned with what Chick-fil-A interprets as a character trait a successful Operator will have.
5. The phone interview provides a very large drop in candidates. If you are successful in the phone interview you will be invited to Atlanta for 8 to 10 one on one in person interviews. I did not make it this far but I was told by the interviewer that it would be 2-4 months before I would be scheduled to interview in Atlanta.
6. If you are successful with your first round of Atlanta interviews you (and your spouse) will be invited for a second round of in person interviews in Atlanta. Again, I did not make it this far but this is what the phone interviewer and a current and recently selected Chick-fil-A Operator told me. The Operator I spoke with told me that this is when he was offered a store.
One thing to keep in mind is that a person may be THE PERFECT candidate. BUT, if you are the perfect candidate and you want to get a restaurant in an area where Chick-fil-A is not expanding (Southeast) you will likely be eliminated early in the process.
