Balsam Brands Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Balsam Brands (Redwood City, CA) in July 2017.

Interview

HR was quickly responding after I filled out the on-line application. They ask all relevant question related into the position. The process was smooth however after the interview, it has being quiet. There is not news from HR to see if they processing to move onto another candidate or not.

Interview Questions

Interview

It was a nice phone talk. The interviewer spoke slowly and clearly. I received this phone call three weeks after my application. The total interview process will take 4 round - 2 for phone interview and 2 in-person.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Balsam Brands.

Interview

Communication with the recruiter was smooth and prompt. First interview was over the phone, very low key, asked about me personally and about my relevant experience. I was invited to do the evaluation portion (two questions on Excel, one about shipping cost minimization by choosing 3 out of 6 3PLs, one about filling in missing UPCs and completing the list), but I didn't get past that, and was not told how I was evaluated.

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Application

I applied through college or university. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Balsam Brands (Redwood City, CA) in February 2017.

Interview

Applied online through my college website early Jan 2017. I got an email within a few hours of applying from the recruitment team for my transcripts. Set up an initial phone screening within the week. The guy on the phone seemed very gentle and friendly. He told me upfront that I made it to the second round, which was a written assessment - something like an exam in college. The assessment comes with a points system and if memory serves, was out of 50 points. You have ONE HOUR to do the assessment/exam, which is a very short amount of time. Make no mistake - it is scary if you did not go to business school like me, but not the scariest part of the recruitment process. The assessment is a two-part mixture of case questions and then some excel data analysis. You do not need to show off your excel skills - you need to show off your data analysis and common sense skills on this excel portion of the exam. Read 'Case In Point', it will help you answer the first portion of the exam.

Thankfully, I passed the exam and was moved onto the next round with an HR honcho. She was very pleasant and asked a lot of questions about e-commerce, which I will share later. The interview was over the phone with it being 25% behavioral and 75% e-commerce/mini-case questions. Cleared this one too, *wipes sweat off brow* and was invited into the Redwood City office.

The final stage of the recruitment process was going to be a big super day at their HQ in Redwood City. A friendly HR lady provided me a list of the people I was going to speak to so I could do some reading about them and maybe try to psycho-analyze their extremely elusive social media and less elusive LinkedIn profiles.

The mega hiccup during this process came when my flight to California was delayed by 12 hours. Cue butterfly effect en masse, I didn't manage to get enough rest to prepare for the big super day.

The super day consisted of 50-minute back-to-back interviews with about 10-13 manager-level staff all the way up to the COO. There was also a coffee interview and a lunch interview. Each manager came from a different department and would present one or two mini-cases about something relating to a potential problem in their department and how you would solve it. They also asked some fun random questions that I don't know were meant to trick you into lowering your guard but I did anyway and answered them like a 31-year-old fangirl who got backstage passes to a Backstreet Boys reunion tour.

The big super day was extremely intense and I highly advice that anyone who gets to go on this guillotine trip to get plenty of rest and rehearse cases as many times over. Try not to be intimidated by the fact that you're being roasted on an open fire (Christmas decor, pun intended) by managers and even the COO.

The nice recruiter man told me in less than 24 hours that I ultimately didn't get an offer because I made two very grave mistakes that you, whoever is reading this, shouldn't make.
1. Do not quote technical terms that you picked up in early case interviews if you do not entirely know what they mean or if you did not study them in school or how they are used in the business - do not follow that yellow brick road, whichever interview you picked up these terms in stays in that interview.
2. Do not leave a case unsolved - I blanked out from nervousness and failed to deliver a final answer for one of the mini-cases. Leaving cases unsolved does not a job offer make.

Really wanted to work for this company as it seemed like a great place with genuine people.

Interview Questions

Application

The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Balsam Brands in January 2017.

Interview

First had a phone interview, the recruiter was really nice and easy to talk to. I then took an excel and knowledge assessment a few days later. 2 weeks after the assessment I was told I didn't pass.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Balsam Brands (Redwood City, CA) in October 2016.

Interview

It was a phone interview with a woman named Loretta. She was nice and understanding, and seems to embody the company's culture. She does have lots of questions prepared to ask you - including rate yourself on a 0-10 scale on different skill sets i.e. verbal & communication skills, etc.

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Application

I applied through college or university. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Balsam Brands (Boise, ID) in October 2016.

Interview

Applied online, got a 30 minute interview, excel assessment and knowledge assessment to follow, had another phone interview, then flew out to Boise for 2 days of interviews. The two days of interviews were intense and you should be on your a game.

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Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Balsam Brands (Livermore, CA).

Interview

I interviewed with Loretta at Balsam Brands. She was very nice and clear about the process. This is thespecially first time I have interviewed with any company where the hr personnel treated the applicant, me as if I were human. Most tend to look down on you until you've proven yourself worthy. The questions were centered around how I would work within the culture of Balsam Brands. The portion of the process that I went through with her was refreshing, regardless of not receiving the position. I would look into apllING for a job with them again. I was asked to take an assessment which seemed typical, but the wording of the questions asked seemed designed to confuse the reader.

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Application

I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Balsam Brands in July 2016.

Interview

My first interview was with HR, and it was very extensive as far as detailing every phase of my career down to rating my experience in all areas, to exactly how many people I managed at each role.

What's notable is that the HR Manager made a point to tell me how great they treat their prospective employees - how efforts are made to remove bias, and how every interviewee is followed up with and even given constructive feedback. He concluded the interview by noting that he was excited about my profile and the potential for a match in the marketing department.

My next interview was with someone in the Marketing department, who would be my direct report, should I be hired. I thought that was strange, since being interviewed by a potential direct report introduces many kinds of inherent bias, and is often used as an example of "hidden bias" in HR/Hiring.

I never heard a peep after that. No returned email, no promised constructive feedback, no notification when they filled the position.

I thought it was worth noting, so that at least one party in this equation gets some feedback! No need to boast about superb hiring practices if you don't follow through - just leave it out of the sales pitch!

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through college or university. I interviewed at Balsam Brands (Redwood City, CA) in November 2015.

Interview

Two rounds of phone interviews with the talent acquisition team, between which was a brief analytics and writing assessment. Then, I got invited to an on-site final round in Redwood City, where I had seven 1-on-2 interviews in an intensive two-day period and met almost everyone in the company, enjoyed dinner and lunch with other candidates and employees, and had a really good time.

Interview Questions