Alpha Dawn interview questions

Met with existing HR consultant first for a screening interview. Basic HR generalist questions. Focused on my technology background, skills, and training. Wanted to know how I stayed abreast of developments in HR technology, policies, regulations, norms. Then I met with the owner. The interview with him was very challenging. Afterward he had said that he was pleased with me and the interview because he had to make sure we had the right person in my role since we were looking to grow and that the most important element for that success was me getting the right people in the door. I felt that it was during that interview that he and I became friends.

Met one-on-one with the owner. HR had emailed me prepping me for what to expect and gave me a lot of cool tips. One thing was that the owner is very busy, he's very hands on, so to get his attention I posted a photo to my social media profiles saying how excited I was to be going on an interview at Alpha Dawn and that I hope I impress them. I saw the owner uses the hashtag "#AlphaDawnLife" on his posts so I did too. It caught his attention because before I got there the owner tweeted to me "clever, you earn one point". So I get there and I'm very impressed with the office. It was almost intimidating, not sure why. The walls were bright white and yellow with black trim, there was an air of elegant creativity. Lots of people in crisp shirts and bold ties. Very "Mad Men". When I entered the owner's office we both sat down on a black leather couch L-shaped couch atop a shaggy accent rug. He looks a lot younger than he is, which throws you. Plus, in spite of all the surrounding elegance the owner was dressed in a black hoodie, jeans, bright green Helly/Hansen running shoes, and a black baseball cap. Neat but very casual. (It's good to be the king!) It was so comfortable I felt like I was talking to an uncle. The interview started with "tell me about yourself". I did. The owner listened and asked questions about what I said. You could tell he cared about me being a good fit for the job but moreso the job being a good fit for me. He asked about what I wanted to do, what I was passionate about, what I would do if I didn't had to work. He asked what I like to do on the weekends. He dovetailed into what I said into what my favorite brands are and why, who I thought were good brands and why, about where I like to shop and why. He then began to ask about my skill set. By the way, the HR folks wanted links to my portfolio of work along with resume and cover letter. You could tell that the owner reviewed all of it in great detail. He asked about why I used certain visual elements, colors, words. He added who the audiences were for the different assets in my portfolio. He really dug in deep to make sure I knew what I was doing. Do NOT go there and dare try to pass off someone else's work as yours. You'll be eaten alive. Know your stuff. The owner then tried to see how I handled pressure. He asked me if I thought I was intelligent. I said "yes" of course. He then asked me to define "intelligence". I almost passed out. He gave me several scenarios about "let's say you have a client that is XYZ, what would you recommend as a solution?" He asked "Are you happier with structure or with a more fluid environment? Do you enjoy doing a lot of different things or one thing really well? How well do you handle disorganization and does it bother you?" One thing that HR had told me was that the owner had an amazing track record but NEVER talks about himself and they suggested that I try to get him to talk about some of his past successes. So around the time when he asked me about what questions I had for him I asked "So tell me more about yourself. You have an amazing track record!" He looked at me like I was crazy and said "nah, I'm nobody." totally dead panned. I said, no really, "tell me about why you got into the business. What are you passionate about?" He was downplaying things but he talks about how there was this need to work with creatives, like it was some sort of drug. So he said "I'm not good at talking about myself, I spent my living talking about everyone else." Then he says "well, let me ask you, what one thing stood out the most about me to you on my LinkedIn account?" Well thank God for their HR giving me the heads up about that. I mentioned one of the charities he helped launch and he spoke about that but totally downplayed himself. Very chill guy. Whip smart but chill. We wrapped up the interview and had some small talk about the interviewing process itself. It had a surreal "behind-the-scenes" feel. I was totally captivated by it all and fell in love with the place on the spot. As I left I tweeted "nailed it! I think. I hope! #AlphaDawnLife" He tweeted back "now you're just apple polishing! You earn two more points!"