Interview Experience to Remember

Got an interview for a position and what an experience it was.

I've always loved interviewing for positions, the questions that get asked tell a LOT about a company and how they are run. Straight forward questions like...

Why should we hire you?

Tell us of a time you needed to manage a situation? How you did so?

What would you consider a weakness?

When did you have a disagreement with a co-worker? How did you handle it?

Tend to be from a script and usually represent a corporation mentality. This is in NO WAY a bad thing, it is just easy to tell. They are still looking for the right people but tend to be hiring the position and not always based on culture and the person as an individual. Again, not a bad thing, but different.

Other questions, like the ones I was asked in my last interview told me so much about Balance of Nature (https://www.garudax.id/company/balance-of-nature) and how much culture means to their business and workplace.

Let me preface this by saying, I did not get this job, I wanted this job, I wanted to work for this company, but they needed a person with more experience than I have and that is ok. I choose to take away things from this experience rather than get down on myself or worry about why I didn't get this job. I'd rather use that experience to be better the next time I have an interview for a position I want.

But enough about me, back to the story...

I was invited for a group interview a couple of weeks ago at Balance of Nature, this was a bit different as I'd grown accustomed to Zoom meeting/interviews. I was excited for this change of pace and the opportunity to meet in person for an interview. The meeting went like most group interviews I've done (you go back, sit down, and take turns answering questions) you then have a booklet and a paper in front of you. One talks about the values at Balance of Nature, the other, a booklet about the history of Balance of Nature. Then came the questions that stuck with me. Things like:

What is the most recent skill you learned?

What is the most valuable thing in your life?

What is the last adventure you went on?

No real secondary question added on the end to get an answer relating to the business, just learning about the PERSON, what they were like, who they were. Crazy enough, we all not only answered, but ended up talking about how we apply it on our own. No one judged the other peoples answers whether they were simple things or not, if it was the most recent skill, there was no searching for the "interview answer" as I like to say. It was simple yet direct questions that took real thought to recall, and instead of looking for the "most valuable skill you learned, the 3 most valuable things in your life" these were simple straight forward and thought provoking. This is when I knew Balance of Nature was about their workplace but more importantly their culture!

It may seem like a simple thing to most, but this experience I will remember for a very long time. The questions reminded me that no matter how small a skill you pick up, its a skill. An adventure is something that you will always remember and the valuable things in life are not only important, they are the reason you continue to learn more, be better, and make it all worth it.

Once again thank you Balance of Nature for the opportunity to interview with your company and the best of luck going forward!

Mason Marinko