I experienced my first big-boy interview. What I mean is that I was flown out to the company’s headquarters, put up in a hotel for a couple of nights and reimbursed for my meal expenses while I was out there. It was a great experience overall but before I get started, please feel free to email or post any specific questions. I will answer what I can.
Wednesday, January 7th
I arrived at my destination mid-day. 
Familiar with the city, I had planned on picking up my car and heading immediately to the hotel. Considering I was 30 minutes outside of downtown, I wanted to familiarize with the area where my interview would take place. As I relaxed in my room, I set up plans for dinner that night with a family friend who happens to work there. It was a nice way to spend the first half-day out West; relaxing with good company. I came home and watched some TV before bed – that’s what being 3 hours ahead will do…at least to me.
Thursday, January 8th
The interview wasn’t until Friday, so I figured I could spend a part of the day downtown. Again, I had been there before but I wanted to pick something up for my nephew as well as get away from the hotel. I did though manage to get a quick workout in at the Hotel gym, and it gave me some energy for the rest of the day. Before I left the hotel though, I received a call from the HR department at the company I was interviewing for to confirm my arrival and see if there was any information they could help me with. It was an indication of how serious this company takes its interviews.
As I left the hotel, I quickly realized the weather was not going to hold up for a long time away from the Hotel. I made my way downtown to the local University, picked up a couple of items for my nephew and managed to eat a great Greek lunch before I headed back to the Hotel. At this point, the rain was coming down fairly strong and I realized a movie was on the radar. 
I watched Zack and Mira Make a Porno and to my delight, it was a good comedy. I definitely recommend it. After the movie, College Football’s National Championship game was on and while I am not a fan of either Oklahoma or Florida, I love the sport so it was easy for me to watch. Unfortunately – still haven’t gotten over 2006 – Oklahoma came up short and Florida won what could be its first of two straight National Championships. I ate a pretty average dinner and got to bed around midnight, realizing I had to get up early for the big day.
Friday, January 9th
This was it. I set my alarm for 6 AM thinking I could go to the gym for a half hour for some energy. When I finally woke up at 630 AM, I decided to get a banana from the continental breakfast and start on USA Today’s crossword puzzle. I figured working out my brain was a good idea. I arrived at the Recruiting building 15 minutes before my scheduled time. There were many other candidates checking in but I quickly realized they were there for other positions. As I checked in, I was told my recruiter was would be out shortly to go over my day with me. As we went over my day, I realized that I was interviewing with two different teams and meeting with a total of 4 people. She did how inform me that my first interview wouldn’t be for another hour or so. I didn’t mind because there were plenty of things to do while I waited. The hour quickly passed and I was on my way to my first interview. The company has 5 recruiting shuttles ready when a trip is needed. Thankfully the shuttles are Hybrids. My first interview was with a Group Product Manager. Unfortunately, our meeting was only scheduled for 30 minutes, but we wound up speaking for almost 45. It was a great conversation; I shared information about my experiences and she shared her background and opinion of the company. It was a good way to begin my day because it gave me a great base of information about the company and its products. It was pretty traditional, as far as interviews go. My second interview lasted almost an hour and a half. This conversation was much more animated and it seemed to flow very smooth. We had an interesting discussion about which product the company should get rid of if it had to and while I don’t think he agreed with my answer, he seemed to have respected it. The whole time I tried to remember; they are not interested in the answer but how I arrived at it. After our conversation ended, he informed me that my next interview wouldn’t be for another hour. Unfortunately, I thought to myself that maybe they had me tentatively scheduled to meet with someone if the first two had gone REALLY well, but oh well; not going to kill myself thinking about what if’s.
My third interview lasted through lunch. It was with a Director for a different product team and he was very impressive. At lunch we talked about PRO$PECTS, my Brandcenter experience and some professional opinions I have. I also asked about his background, the company and the specific team he was a part of. The interview concluded with a 20 minute case study question about cereal. Before I tell you what the question was, it was a unique twist to most traditional interviews but I was fairly prepared for this type of question. Looking back, I don’t know if I am comfortable with the answer I gave, but I believe I did well trying to explain how I arrived at it. Here is the case study:
You are Brand/Product Manager for AlphaBits cereal. On your first week of the job, while your boss is away on his honeymoon, Production calls up and says there is a problem with this week’s inventory. Unable to reach your boss, you have to make a decision on whether to distribute the product as is or cancel delivery for the week. The product, which contains letters of the alphabet, has broken apart. The letter L for instance, has become to I's. The letter A has become a triangle with two I's. As you can see, it could be a real problem. What do you do?
My last interview was fairly quick. What seemed like 8 hours after my initial interview with my recruiter was actually only 5.5. Similar to the first interview, it was fairly traditional with questions centering on my past experiences. I then returned to the recruiting building and checked out.
Overall, I came away very impressed by the experience and more importantly, the company. There is little doubt why it is the market leader. I met and was around very bright candidates and employees and it seems like everyone is drinking the Kool Aid…and I don’t doubt why. The talent in itself is a reason to get motivated and the campus was a sight to see. It was the best experience I have had in my months of job searching. The detail and respect they have for each candidate should not go unnoticed. Actually, if more companies hired the way they did, maybe they would also be market leaders as well. I am just saying….Oh and for those who know who I interviewed with, there was nothing evil about it. : P
