IMVU Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Feb 2009 in Palo Alto, CA (took 1+ week)

I was referred to IMVU by a contact at a company where I'd worked recently as a contractor. I hadn't sent out any resumes, nor done any 'real' job searching -- I was pinging my primary contact list and mentioning that I was considering a full-time position with the right company, instead of continuing as a contractor.

First contact from IMVU was by email from their VP of Product. We had several rounds of email, and it because clear that our needs and goals were very similar, so we scheduled a 1:1 phone interview for a few days later.

In the phone interview I learned more about the company goals, the product and roadmap, and the responsibilities of the role. It was increasingly clear to both sides that this was probably a really good fit, so an on-site interview day was scheduled for a few days later. Usually I don't come across that great in phone interviews, but this one was smooth.

My on-site interview day, held at the IMVU office in Palo Alto, consisted of 7 half-hour 1:1 interviews, plus a 45 minute presentation by me for 8, including most of those I'd interviewed with individually.

During the individual interviews, I was mostly asked about my experience working with teams and how I would best ensure my best ideas get visibility. Another common theme were questions about how I think about solving problems, both generally and specifically. All the sessions felt rushed, I believe because it was clear I was a real option and everyone wanted to envision exactly how I'd work within the team.

In the presentation session, I showed a PPT of very specific case studies I had worked out over the weekend. I made some reasonable guesses about what their specific product needs were, both for the website and the desktop client, and tried to show how I approach specific challenges. I'm very comfortable talking in front of others, and especially when it comes to product design for startups, so I felt like it went very well.

It's always a good sign when the CEO is suddenly included in your agenda for interviews, so I took it as a good sign when I had an unscheduled 1:1 with the CEO.

Apparently so did the IMVU team. I got a call from the VP of product the next day and they wanted to make an offer. I thought it over, and it was very clear to me that this position and company actually fit my rather specific requirements very closely.

Overall a very organized process, very professional, with great communication. Everyone I spoke with was prepared for the 1:1 interviews and asked questions that felt right. The process itself was good enough to be a checkmark in the 'pros' column.

I'm marking this interview as 'Easy' from a process perspective.

Of note: I spent 2 full days on my presentation. It was a very useful exercise for me, and seemed to make a big impact, so I'm very glad I gave it a lot of careful thought. But I didn't stroll in and kick my feet up -- I researched their market, product, and team beforehand and made sure I knew exactly what stories about my experience I wanted to tell, with carefully prepared visual examples. So it was easy for me, but I can also imagine someone bombing it if they didn't do plenty of homework in advance.