I applied through other source. I interviewed at Idea Booth (Chicago, IL)
Interview
This was in 2015 and seeing the mention of "DNA" made me want to share my experience interviewing at Idea Booth. I've interviewed dozens of places and this takes the cake for the craziest interview of all time. Hopefully, things have improved since my interview process.
They reached out to me through my website to see if I'd be interested in interviewing for a graphic design internship. I had two phone interviews that went great and they invited me in for an in-person interview. It was a panel interview with four employees, one of which was a founder.
Questions were pretty standard, where do you see yourself in five years, what are your career goals, skills, etc. However, one of the employees would ask me these questions and several minutes later another would ask me the exact same question. I'm not sure if this was a strategy or they weren't listening?
One employee got two pages into my portfolio, said, "I've seen all I need to see," and left the interview after about 10 minutes. I wasn't sure how to take that since presumably, they had seen my website before inviting me to interview in the first place? I'm about as inoffensive as you can get, so it wasn't like he had seen something in my portfolio that was offensive or I had said/done something offensive. We had barely had a chance to talk.
As I mentioned, one employee REALLY kept hitting the line, "Working here is either in your DNA or it's not," hard. At this point, I knew it absolutely was not in my DNA and was very grateful for my genes. He also asked me if I was married (illegal), if I had children (also illegal), and if I "was married to a man" (soooo illegal). I wasn't upset that they asked, because even if an offer was coming there was no way I would accept. But the fact that no one stopped him from asking these clearly illegal questions was very telling.
I left laughing because the entire experience was so completely absurd that I felt like I was on a hidden camera show. From more current reviews, it sounds like they have streamlined their process and hopefully the entire experience is better. It also makes for a great story to tell!
They did follow up a few days later and let me know they were going with another candidate. I replied that I agreed it wouldn't be a good fit and thanked them for the opportunity.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Idea Booth (Chicago, IL) in May 2018
Interview
I applied for the community manager role earlier this year. The process took two weeks and was extremely efficient. Once I submitted my application I received a personalized response, not just some automatic reply. They scheduled a phone interview for the following week. The initial interview was actually conducted by one of the agency's principles. One of the most unique and interesting job interviews. The interviewer focused more on me as a person (i.e. aspirations, hoddies, life goals...etc) than your typical job interview, which was refreshing.
I was given the opportunity to speak to a couple of other individuals at the agency throughout the process. They all emphased how important it was that they value "DNA" over all else. Everyone I was interviewed by were open and honest about what to expect in a chaotic creative environment and emphasized how important it was that my personality and character stood above experience or skill set. Really unique to other interviews considering that most companies try selling you on how they want to be perceived as the perfect place to work.
I would have loved to work at Idea Booth. Sadly, they filled the role but given the opportunity, I would apply again.
Interview questions [4]
Question 1
What are my key objectives in my career? And how will I measure my success?
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Idea Booth
Interview
I'm still baffled by this whole interview process. I had two interviews - one with the CEO and one with the Art Director. Both were pretty simple and straightforward; no curveball or "trick" questions. I felt they both went really well and I received positive feedback from both employees. This is where it got strange. I followed up with the CEO after not hearing anything for a week after my second interview. Radio silence for a week. Then I receive an email from the CEO asking for times I'm free for a quick chat. I send back dates and times...and hear nothing for another week. Then one day I'm at work and receive a call from the CEO while I'm in a meeting. He leaves a voicemail asking me to give him a call back when I can, so I called back as soon as I got out of my meeting. It went to voicemail, so I left a message but never heard back. I followed up again the following Monday, and never heard anything back. Either they're extremely busy or don't check their messages or emails, but all signs point to lots of disorganization and lack of basic communication skills. I was excited about this company and opportunity until this odd experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What are your favorite brands to follow on social?