WSJ.com: Mr. Colmer was one of 21 men and women who came from around the globe to the small town of Billund last month to compete for a job as a Lego designer. The Danish company has an unusual method of filling this position. Rather than conducting formal interviews, Lego invites the most promising applicants to its headquarters to sketch and build Lego sets in front of a panel of senior designers.
11 comments:
That's a really interesting way to interview for a job. I wish it was that easy for us. I dislike interviews where you have to praise yourself in front of a panel and try to prove to them why you should be there/get a certain part. It is too nerve racking. Half the time I want to be like, "Just watch me do something for you," and then sit there and make something or show a time when I was actually performing, not just auditioning. It's really cool that Lego doesn't discriminate by age. You would think that most people want the younger generation because they can work longer, but there is still some originality to the work that they older applicants did. I think my mind would have been wiped blank as soon as they gave me the packets of Legos. It's really cool that people traveled from around the world just to get this job. Legos are a thing for all ages. It is just like being an Imagineer for Disney.
Great example of content leading form in a useful, constructive way. I think that interviews should be tailored to the position that is being filled, and Lego is obviously really good at that. While for many jobs a classic interview might be the best way to evaluate a candidate/potential employer, that is not true of all positions and industries. Working as a Lego designer requires skills like creative thought processes and problem solving, and that doesn't necessarily come through in an interview. That's generally what references might be for, but Lego is smart to take it one step further and judge for themselves.
This reminds me of the 48 hour all night design competitions that a workshop in las vegas holds. While it does seem like it would be a bad way to get people who do their very best work over extended periods of time, versus people who jump right into their first idea right off the bat, but im sure that LEGO is looking for work ethic and personal dynamics factors as well. No wonder they have such a good design team.
All throughout elementary school, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered that I wanted to be a LEGO designer. Now that I've seen what the application process is like, I'm glad my career has taken a different path, as I probably wouldn't have gotten the job. This really is one of the most logical ways for a company as unique as LEGO to vet job applicants. It gives the best of both worlds: a practical evaluation of skills, and enough time in the room with the candidates to judge their personality and work ethic.
Dude. I want to work for Lego. I love the way businesses have been changing in order to create a more creative environment. They're not afraid to let their workers have fun and be relaxed, and that allows the ideas to shine through. The biggest example of a company embracing this approach to business is Google. If you don't believe me, check out these photos:
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1947844_2013325,00.html
This would be the best job ever. All the cool LEGO sets that are built by children and adults alike have to have been built by someone for the first time. They have to take the individual pieces and combine them to make the object that becomes the boxed sets and instructions that people can buy. The best way to find someone capable of doing that would be to have them actually do it.
Not only does this sound like a fantastic job, but also a great way of finding out who to hire. When he was younger, my brother was always building with Legos, either from kits or on his own. I can imagine he would be good at this job. Though the process sounds intense and extremely difficult for even the most imaginative and devoted people, it still sounds like something one would be unable to pass up if given the opportunity.
Having been a lego consumer and user for many years, this article was inspiring and eyeopening. I did not realize how strict and competitive of a process it was to become a lego designer. I've loved legos since i was a child but I never really thought about the person who designed the set that I was building and how complicated a job that entails. Once they get through the grueling design competition, Lego employers are then banished to a cold area of the planet where they only have ONE bar for solace. This seems like so much hardship for a job...but then again, I think if I was offered a job with Lego, I would take it in the blink of an eye.
Hey, is there any way I can major in Lego design? This interview process is wonderful, as it shows them exactly what they're looking for. Of course, they take resumes etc. into account, but this idea is genius. Legos are great because they literally give you free reign of anything. Nowadays we have programs like Minecraft that allow you build on a computer. They're still legitimate, but I love the feel of constructing my own Lego creation. Although the engineering may be basic, and the color scheme limited, they still lend hands to many amazing feats.
I think that legos are some of the best toys ever, and they are nearly perfect. The only flaw there is to these lovely children's building blocks is that they are so incredibly painful to step on. I found this article about the process that lego uses in selecting its next designers really interesting. The interview process that they go through is really cool, and I like how diverse the group of people who were in the final group are; there were people of all ages, backgrounds, educations, and countries of origin. It seems like such a hard application process, and it would be really cool to see how many people applied for the job. I'm not sure how I feel about the hiring process for people who get accepted though. If someone gets accepted they're expected to show up the next day for work, which I think is a bit much for the company to expect.
Not to embarrass myself here, but I still like to play with legos! Not only do they allow people to be creative but they also allow you to build some pretty awesome things! My favorite part of building legos has always been the problem solving aspect and the fact that it allowed me to follow instructions to build an awesome thing. After the initial build kept all my finished products up on a shelf in my room, but after a while I would break them down and reorganize their pieces for future designs. I suppose that was just a super long story just to say that designing legos has always been a cool thing for me. Legos are amazing and designing them is almost as difficult as being an architect of a huge building.
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