I applied in-person. I interviewed at Spin Master (Los Angeles, CA)
Interview
Interviewed with several people from different departments on the same day. Questions were standard, such as describing my experience and my interests. After the interview I was disappointed that there was no courtesy email in appreciation for my time nor to let me know the position was filled.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is my greatest accomplishment at my current company?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Spin Master
Interview
A very unprofessional interview on the part of HR. Started off with the HR rep eating lunch during the interview and then passing me off to another employee to complete another part of the interview. Once the second part of the interview was finished, I was escorted back to the HR rep's office and told that they would be back momentarily. I ended up waiting 30 mins for the HR rep to come back (they had gone for coffee). These are just a few moments over the course of the hour I was in their offices that demonstrated unprofessionalism.
In the end the company did not contact me to inform me that they had chosen another candidate: a big no-no in my books. All in all, I guess I dodged a bullet by not being selected.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Name three positive things and three negatives things about your previous positions.
I applied online. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Spin Master (Los Angeles, CA) in Sep 2015
Interview
Initially positive and energetic experience with the recruitment team that carried over to the phone screen. However, 4 days before scheduled in-person interview I was told by hiring managers/HR (located in Canada) to expect the standard paperwork/NDA to be emailed so that it could be filled out before the scheduled in-person interview. On the way to interview received paperwork (full handwritten work history along with NDA) with the expectation that it be filled out and completed "to either scan and send back or hand in when I got there" (remember this is while I was en route to the interview, which they acknowledged in the very same email - yikes), along with an invitation to email any concerns I had. Naturally I replied immediately with questions about how best to proceed since I was of course at the front door already and - no lie - received an out-of-office response (always difficult when you're on the job-hunting side of a "send-and-scram" email). Was also invited to call and, you guessed it, went straight to voicemail. Thus began the downward spiral from there, so it was at least a primer for the generalized and palpable apathy witnessed the rest of the day while in their facilities. Not much structure and scheduling seemed to be a constant afterthought in terms of delineating build deliverables along with coordination with physical product marketing and development teams.
Everyone was polite and seemed nice enough, but all had seemed to be weary/worn from previous experiences at other companies. Enthusiasm was nowhere to be found. Strangely they seemed equally unsurprised at the level of incompetence displayed by the aforementioned "not sending the paperwork until I was en route to the in-person dialogues", but also frustrated with me that I had not filled it out using the "generous" 10 minutes available beforehand.
They seemed evasive on questions pertaining to production methodologies and build schedules, which is highly concerning with multiple projects running simultaneously while sharing resources. Most offices were either messy or barren.
Any issue above on it's own is present in many organizations and never a problem, but all occurring at once is a sign of either bad times they went through - or ones to come. Didn't hear any kind of feedback at all after I left. Disappointing because in spite of all that I was excited to be brought on and lend a hand to smooth out their processes, being a glutton for punishment or not - I do love a fixer-upper and they had potential.
Prospective interviewees take note: Lean on and follow-up with recruitment team to ensure you get the promised paperwork at the promised time well before you need to hand it in. Could be a nice place so don't be too daunted, they may just need some enthusiastic folks to improve the atmosphere and processes.