Pixar interview call!!

Preparation:

There were two interviews. The first with the head of recruiting so that she can get a quick gauge of who I am. It is a simple interview about interest and current position in the school. After being deemed as a good fit, a follow-up interview is scheduled over email. It was a phone call with about 5 people at the same time.

Two different interviews, one with the senior recruiter, the rest with the team. The interview was comfortable and about the work which I made and the background of creating it. It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking but they want to see your passion and desire to learn!

1.

Could you give us a specific time where you accepted

critique?

1

▼

I couldn't answer that question because my mind blanked. I didn't have any specific times I'd gotten critique but I do constantly get them when I talk to friends and faculty during classes. So I stumbled, stuttered, and apologized for not being able to think of a specific time-- not the greatest thing to happen in the interview. They kindly changed the question (or rephrased it) to something else I could answer after mentioning that they knew it was stressful talking to people at a big name company like Pixar.

How did you get your rope to look like that? (They would

  ask questions about specific pieces)

I couldn't quite remember the name of the tools I used so I admitted that I didn't remember what it was called but tried to explain it as best I could.

Which piece was your favorite and why? 

What is your favorite project and why?

I pointed out the piece and talked about how I liked the mood, colors, composition, and how I learnt a lot from it.

Which shot was the most technically challenging?

I picked out the same piece that I liked the most and talked about how many issues I ran into and some of the fixes I'd tried and how they either worked or didn't.

Why did you like that shot the most despite how hard it was?

If it was easy, it wouldn't have been fun. (This is probably what cinched the interview after botching one of the first questions)

Tell me exactly what was your responsibility for this group

  project.

• creativity, excellence, hard work, and fun.

Passionate, persistent, fast learner.  

Hello, I'm Samar, Samar Mingshan Chen.

Sorry for missing your calls yesterday. I was having a class and didn't notice my phone ran out of power. I'm so sorry. I hope it's not too late.

• How well do you work by yourself, with a team?

Currently, I'm working on three different projects with three other teams. I really enjoy the process that we can solve questions together and learn from each other.

• Why are you interested in coming to work for us? 

Pixar is my dream company. After I read the book, creativity inc., I was amazed by all the methods that the company used to help originality. Of course, I love all the Pixar movies and shorts. I want to be part of your guys.

• When can you come in for an in-person interview? 

I'm free on Monday and Friday.

• How do you deal with pressure?

I'll transfer the pressure into motivations. When you feel the pressure, that means you are having challenges. But you know, challenges can help us learn more staffs. 

What was your thought process in an unexpected challenge?

Analysis the challenge first. 

What are the details on how you solved a particular problem in a project?

Tell us about a team project; were you the leader? If so, how did you manage and plan for the team?

On the other hand, also be prepared for personal questions such as "What's your favorite movie?" "What's something not on your resume that you would like us to know?" or "What's the greatest challenge that you have overcome at work?"

I took a lighting class last semester, and I was really impressed by the process that using lighting, materials, textures to tell a story. And my teacher, Corey Butler, who also works in Disney, encouraged me to keep moving in this direction and recommended me a couple of books about lighting and rendering. From those books, I noticed if I want to explore more, coding is very necessary.

The idea of using codes to describe how light interacts with materials and how textures put on, it seems like sorcery. I'm very interested.