I interviewed at OffWhite Design (New York, NY) in Mar 2017
Interview
The job was posted on Behance. Joshua, the owner, contacted me through Behance messaging to come in for an interview. He mentioned that the firm is moving from the congested Times Square tiny location to a larger location in New Jersey. This interested me because I live in New Jersey and would rather not commute to the city every day. We scheduled an interview for later on in the week. The job looked promising as well as the company. Even after losing my dog the day before, I took the long commute into the city to meet with Joshua. I arrived a tad early and was greeted by the office manager, who was very nice. All of the other designers where in the same room, working at their computer, no personality or interest in what was going on around them.
When Joshua was ready, I was seated in the tiny conference room. He did offer a coffee or water and seemed overall interested in me. As I went through my portfolio, Joshua continued to mention how great my work was but was more interested in how I was an online student for 75% of my bachelor's degree. I felt judged as he continued to ask how the online process worked and how I could ever learn anything. Clearly, I did, if my work was so great to him. I continued moving on talking about my work but was continually asked how the process worked being online.
The interview questions were nothing out of the ordinary. There were no trick interview questions like what are your weaknesses, etc. They focused more on my goals as a designer, what I wanted to do, and my experience.
Joshua then mentioned he had a couple interviews throughout the next week and he would get back to me within the next week or two. I never received any sort of correspondence from Joshua even after messaging him about the job on Behance as I realized I was never given his email and could not find it anywhere.
I applied through other source. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at OffWhite Design (New York, NY) in Sept 2014
Interview
Someone from OffWhite Design contacted me after finding my portfolio on Behance. She set up an interview, which was subsequently moved several times. At interview, the interviewer did not stand up or introduce himself. He did not smile or seem to want me there. Told me he interviewed at one of the companies on my resume, but that he did not get hired. Begrudgingly complimented my portfolio and immediately asked what salary I was looking for. When I told him he scoffed. I left and could only laugh at what such a weird interview experience it was. Needless to say there was no follow up on either end.
I applied online. The process took 4 days. I interviewed at OffWhite Design in Aug 2014
Interview
I applied online and recieved a call-back email two days later. I was to meet with the founder, Josh. The office is located in the heart of conjested Times Square – not really a selling point for the average new yorker. The office is pretty intimate, about 6 other workers on their computers who looked not too happy to be at work – no personality whatsoever.
The woman acting as HR/Josh's personal assitant went in to inform him that I had showed up; two minutes later I went into his office. His first words (directed at the HR woman) was "Context..I need context.." as if I were not sitting there. She mumbled some loose details about my application until one hit home for him. "Ah thats right!" - I felt that that conversation could have happened before I entered the room.
Already feeling very repulsed by him, I decided to continue on and give an overview of myself and overqualified background. While I could tell he was interested in my work, he was easily distracted –texting on his phone and such. The HR rep blamed it on his lack of coffee in the morning – she continued to make excuses for his rudeness.
Overall the interview as ridiculous. He asked if I could start that following monday and if my already lowered salary requirement could be negotiated. I told him that my base salary not negotiable and starting Monday would not be ideal – I clearly was over the interview and respectfully ended the exchange.
I was unimpressed and uninspired. Josh did not give off leader to me, more like power play dictator and no one in the office seemed happy.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The interview as a whole was pretty easy and I did not feel blind-sided by any unexpected questions. Instead, the difficulty was with how rude and unprofessional the founder, Josh, was. I would not like to work for someone like him.