Nintendo of America Corporate Services Lead Interview

Interview Details – I applied on Nintendo's website. Two weeks later they contacted me to set up a time for a phone interview. The phone interview went very well; it felt more like a conversation than an interview. The recruiter was nice and we got along pretty well. We talked for a little over 30 minutes then he said they'd let me know if they wanted me to do the online skills tests. About a week later I got a call saying I made it to the next step and they would be emailing me the details for the online assessments. They tested me in Word, Excel, spelling/punctuation/grammar, and a writing sample regarding customer service. There were a few problems with the testing website but I was eventually able to get through the tests. Another week went by before I received a call to come in for an interview.

This is where it all went sour. The questions were all competency-based and focused on leadership and team development. I had no idea it would be so sharply focused on these skills (neither the job description nor the recruiter alluded to the importance of this) so I was unprepared. I knew I wasn't doing well when the interviewer mocked one of my answers. There was one question that I had absolutely no idea what she was getting at. She rephrased it and I still didn't get it. The other person interviewing me rephrased it and it still didn't click. Finally she said "Well let me just tell you what I was looking for and maybe that will help." Problem solving skills. Why she had to make it so convoluted, I'll never know.

I left the interview absolutely drained and knowing I wasn't going to get the job. The manager told me she'd for sure let me know either way. Two weeks later I contacted the recruiter because I hadn't heard anything. About an hour after, he emailed me back with the rejection letter.

Basically the interviewer (the manager of the department) challenged me on every single answer I gave and subtly made me feel inferior. I'm 34 years old and have years of experience leading people but the way I felt after this interview left me with a very negative impression about this woman and Nintendo in general.

I should mention that it's now 3 weeks after they turned me down and the position is still listed as accepting applications, so I do feel a bit of vindication that it wasn't just me who wasn't "good enough".