I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at IDEO in Apr 2018
Interview
Three rounds of interviews. First interview with two design researchers. Gave me a research scenario and asked how I would approach design the research. They threw some obstacles into the scenario to see how I would respond. The next round was a conversation about salary with HR. The last round was a marathon with three hours of interviews. First hour was presenting homework I had been assigned the previous week where I was asked to design a research plan around a problem and lead the team in a brainstorm on design directions. The following two hours were two separate interviews with other members of the research team, directors, and other roles at the studio.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Example of a dream project you want to work on at IDEO.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at IDEO (Palo Alto, CA) in Dec 2017
Interview
HR person reached out via email a couple of weeks after I applied online. Scheduled a time to talk and said the head of HR would be on call too. This was one of the most unprofessional interviews I have ever done. There was nothing "human - centered" about it; in fact, if you don not know how to talk to people, especially talent that your company needs, HR is not the job for you. The entire conversation was filled with a self-important tone and both the interviewers kept interrupting me, which kept throwing me off my train of thought. The most annoying part of this interview is that one of the ladies did not know what the hell she was talking about; she kept incorrectly correcting me and mixing up the terms 'Qualitative' and 'Quantitative' research. Please, for the love of god, do your homework before you speak to people, it was so idiotic I did not want to even correct her. If you haven't done your homework and you don't know what you are talking about, please know your place and know when to speak. This was by far one of the most awkward, annoying and ill-informed interviews I have ever had. The tone of both HR personnel was filled with clout, I guess it comes with working at IDEO, get off your high horse, you are merely a recruiter, learn to do your job better.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a project which was heavily research focused.