IKEA Interior Designer interview questions

August 2014- Received phone call about one week after i submitted online application. This was a pre-screening interview. I passed the phone screening interview and was told that a hiring manager would be in touch via email to set up first interview. End August 2014. One week later email arrives and i am to choose an interview time slot. Long story short, i was playing email tag with the HR guy since every time i chose a slot it was taken. Seriously?? Why not just assign a time and date, what an inconvenience this was. So I chose a time slot exactly an entire month away. Late September 2014- Finally interview day! I arrived 20 min early, the Receptionist had me fill out a ton of paper work including all the application info already done on line. Inconvenience again not to mention that it interfered with the interview process. The two interviewers stepped into the interview room i was in still filling out paperwork and they were early walking in there. The greeting was so cold and informal. I didn't get a chance to say much when they came in, as they told me , " oh we will let you finish that paperwork before we get started. " They saw that I brought my portfolio with me as it sat on table. They just grabbed it and sifted through it not giving me the time to share it and walk through it. I brought my examples of presentation boards which they took no interest in either, i wasn't given an opportunity to even present them. The HR guy bluntly stated that interior design wasn't his thing. How unprofessional to state a remark like that. Their interviewing skills were terrible and with no confidence. No interior design questions were asked. Just your basic standard interview reading from a paper. So informal i was disgusted. I was then given a tour of the facility and back offices including design center. Aside from such a terrible unorganized interview, i was still very interested in this position. Upon wrapping things up i was told that I would receive a call by the following Friday which was a week and a half away. Two weeks later into October 2014-- I receive a phone call from one of the interviewers apologizing for not contacting within the time promised. " He stated that the extended another week of interviews that had to be done. He said to me that he would have an answer for me by early next week. Ok...... Two and half weeks later Ending October here----- still no correspondence. ....................

There were 3 stages to the process; phone screening, group interview and 'the grandparent' interview. Applied online and got a call around 2-3 weeks later. The phone interview had questions about IKEA (i.e. why IKEA, what does home furnishing mean to you, etc.) and lasted around 15 min. A week later I got a call saying I made it to the group assessment day+ a confirmation email. In addition, there was a form I had to fill out with situational questions (i.e. tell us about a time when you faced an obstacle and how did you overcome it?, when was a time you made a mistake and how did you fix it? etc.) and a personality quiz to complete. The group interview was a week after the confirmation email and I had to bring my portfolio along. On the day, there were around 9 people (including myself), 6 were going for the Visual merchandising role whilst 2 others + me were going for the Interior Designer role. There were head designers, managers and HR people in the room as well and they were all very friendly. After a brief intro about IKEA, we introduced ourselves and presented the piece of work in our portfolio we were most proud of. Then we had group activities, analysing a specific room (i.e. what is the style of the room? who do you think lives in this room? what would you change about the room? etc.) and split into teams of 3 to build a flatpack (could be a table, cabinet, etc.). Had to present our furniture and talk about where we would place it and how it could be used. After a lunch break, we had a 'feedback' session, which was actually a further interview questioning session. There were 2 people asking situational questions (around 8 Qs) and because I was not expecting it at all, blanked out for a few secs but they helped guide and recollect my thoughts so that was pretty nice of them. That concluded the group interview day and I was told I would find if I pass the round by Friday. Then on the following day, I got a call back saying I had made it to the 'Grandparent interview' and was asked to come in on the Friday (short notice because the manager was quite busy). I was asked to bring my portfolio again and was told that it was an informal interview with the Design head. True to their word, it was the most relaxed and chilled interview ever, chatting about different cultures, different IKEAs around the world, etc. The only questions he asked were once again, 'why IKEA? what do you think IKEA can offer you, what do you think the differences are between this IKEA and the other one?etc. Showed him my portfolio and chatted a bit more. Overall lasted around 2 hours and that concluded the final interview. Got a call a week later asking for reference checks and now pending (so no offer yet)