Application is usually a short 100 word brief description of your motivations to work for Inventium. If you pass this, you will be asked to film a short 3 minute video either to introduce yourself, or discuss 2 books you enjoyed reading recently. The video is to give them an idea of your presentation style, what books you like reading, how do you learn from the books you read and an overall feeling of your personality and cultural fit for the organisation.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What were 3 things you learnt from 2 books you have read recently?
I applied online. I interviewed at Inventium (Melbourne)
Interview
A completely inhuman experience, devoid of respect for the candidate. For a company that claims to innovate with neuroscience, they have shown a total lack of empathy.
They replied to my initial application with a scripted e-mail asking me to produce a video. I went to the trouble to create one and sent it off. A few days' later they replied with another e-mail demanding another video, this time much more detailed, requiring an analysis of a problem.
On both occasions, they demanded that I submit the videos within 48 hours. There was no discussion to check whether I was available, and there was no prior warning that I would have to jump through these hoops within such tight deadlines.
The next day I got yet another scripted e-mail to fob me off. No reasonable company would do this to a human being. Even more ironic, the videos were ostensibly to gauge personality. How on earth can I be expected to show genuine personality when I am communicating with a robot? I did try to call them but they were not interested in speaking.
A huge waste of time and very demoralising for a job seeker! Their process reminds me of an article I read about companies that have hiring processes intended to 'break' candidates and find ones who will be compliant and subservient.
If this is how they treat candidates, I don't want to imagine how they actually treat staff. They are good at getting attention and having gimmicks. I doubt the reality matches the marketing.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Create a one minute video of yourself, talking straight to camera, about your one superpower that you would bring to this role. Ideally, try to make it a "mid shot" so we can see how you gesture, as well as your face and your expressions. Once you have created the video, please upload it to Vimeo or Youtube and send us the link. Please send this to us within 48 hours at the very latest.
So, it’s time for another video challenge - we promise this is the last one! For this challenge, we are keen to see how clearly and succinctly you can explain one of our idea generation tools - Assumption Crusher.
After you have read the description of Assumption Crusher below, please make a video of yourself explaining Assumption Crusher to someone who is not familiar with the concept. Like the previous video, we don’t care about quality, we just care about watching you and seeing how well you can explain a concept.
We look forward to seeing your video! Please send it back to us within 48 hours.
**ASSUMPTION CRUSHER**
What is it?
An idea generation tool.
How to use it
1. Clearly articulate the challenge you want to solve.
2. Generate a list of assumptions that you hold around the given challenge. It can be helpful to consult with a couple of other people to draw out key assumptions (because assumptions by their very nature sit at the back of our minds). Assumptions can be both real (e.g. Our budget is $X) or perceived (e.g. Our staff aren’t engaged). Relevant assumptions may be about why it is a challenge, how it became a challenge, and assumptions around what may be the best ways to solve it.
3. Crush each of these assumptions. You can do this by asking: what if the opposite was true or what if something very different was true.
4. Use the crushed assumption as a springboard to generate new ideas from.
Why use it?
Whenever we have a problem to solve, we will have a set of assumptions that govern our thinking. Assumptions fence in our thinking and limit our ability to think creatively. By crushing these assumptions we are allowing peoples’ thinking to venture into new spaces/realities, increasing the possibility of breakthrough idea generation.
When to use it?
Use during ideation sessions, particularly when you believe participants are very ‘close’ to the challenge you are trying to solve (because if they are, they are likely to hold many assumptions which fence in their thinking). Assumption Crusher can also be used on an individual basis during idea generation and problem solving.
An example
Challenge: improve the experience of buying a pair of jeans.
Assumption: I always have to take in 5+ pairs of jeans just to find the right size because sizing differs to much between brands.
Crushed assumption: What if I only had to try on one pair of jeans because I know the sizing will be just right?
Idea: A body scanning mobile app that scans your body and takes measurements, and recommends a pair of jeans that will fit you perfectly.
Very responsive and friendly team. They are very focussed on innovation knowledge (obviously). The in-person interview was quite relaxed though I was not interviewing for an advertised position - so don’t take this review as typical. There was a fair bit of email correspondence about the potential role too.
