Interview Questions

Tell me about a time you improved a process or procedure.

About halfway through my last internship, I wasn't feeling challenged enough so I sought out a new, more strategic project. All summer long, I would hear my coworker complain about a company wide system that we were required to use but no one in the office actually did it so at the end of the year, she would end up working overtime to try to get the office results back to where they are supposed to be. So I decided to try and take it off her hands and see what I could improve So first I made myself familiar with the system and how the office rankings worked and then I created some simple spreadsheets that I thought would help to keep track of all of the policies and better organize the process. I worked one on one with each person on my team to get all of their policies sent out through this system until I improved the office-wide results by 11.7% in one month. After working with each person, I had a better understanding of what the problem points in the system were. So I created a resource guide that contained detailed instructions, a glossary, FAQ, sample spreadsheets, and recommendations for overall system improvements. If I could go back and do it again, I would ask to be able to speak with someone a little higher up in the company to discuss these system improvement recommendations. I was able to present my project to my entire team and some of their bosses but I would have liked to have a personal sit down meeting with some of them to discuss actually taking steps to do some of the improvements.

Tell me about a time you tried to improve yourself? (NO EGO)

After graduation, I applied for a fellowship called Venture for America which places recent graduates with start-up companies across the US. I felt extremely connected with the organization and its mission and truly believed I was a great fit. I made it to the final round of the application process and had an all day interview of sorts with all of the other candidates. We performed challenges as a group in front of judges and then had individual interviews. I left that day knowing that I had performed my best interviews I have ever done and even heard one of the judges say "I love that girl" as I walked out of the room. I thought there was no way that I wouldn't get the fellowship. A week later, I got an email saying that they unfortunately were not going to select me and I could reach out if I wanted to know more. I was absolutely crushed and knew it would be hard to hear all of the reasons why they didn't pick me. But at the same time, I am all about self-reflection and improvement so I reached out and we had a phone call about why I didn't get the position and I've been working on improving those qualities about myself.

What do you know about Gusto?

First of all, until I received the first piece of correspondence from Maddie, I had been pronouncing it Gusto, like the Spanish word. So please forgive me if I slip up with pronunciation, I'm still trying to retrain my brain! I've done a lot of research on Gusto because I became very interested with the organization after reading its mission statement. So I guess I can start there: I absolutely love that Gusto believes work should empower people to live their best lives because it is exactly aligned with my beliefs on how business should work. I'm very passionate about small business and plan on opening my own one day because I believe that small businesses can be incredible platforms or tools that can be used to fix a lot of the problems we face in our country. On a basic level, I know that Gusto is an online platform that provides HR, payroll, benefits and insurance services to over 60,000 small to mid-sized business across the country and are looking to expand internationally as well. Another thing that I really admire about the organization is how Joshua Reeves strives to keep traditions and customs of a smaller organization, for example the personalized recruiting process and the welcome orientation held every two weeks. But at the same time, isn't allowing them to prevent the organization to properly grow.

What experience do you have in a customer-facing role?

For all of high school and most of college, I've always held at least one customer-facing job in the Food Service Industry. I've gained many skills from these several years in customer service above anything else I've become a real people-person. I used to be intimidated by social gatherings and meeting new people but after working in customer facing roles for so long, I've come to realize that I'm really good at talking to people and I actually really enjoy it. Whether it is a friend of a friend, a customer, a coworker or even just the person ringing me up at the grocery store. Additionally, at my last internship, I worked in Account Management and interacted with clients on a daily basis, mostly through email or over the phone.

Why are you a good fit for this position?

I am a people person and have a lot of customer service experience. Additionally, I started a small business and have worked in another successful small business so I would be in the position to really understand where the customers are coming from and would be able to sympathize. I also have knowledge on insurance and employee benefits and have worked with insurance carriers before in my internships with insurance brokers. In these positions, I created resources for my clients to better understand their coverages.

Tell me about a time you did something self-less (SERVICE-ORIENTED)

I am a very mothering and caring person. I love to take care of the people I love and I am constantly trying to make others happy. I'm always making food and baked goods for my friends to add a little joy to their day. One time when I was living in a different state from my friend, who I knew was going through a rough patch, I ordered a dozen donuts on caviar and had them delivered to her house. I thought it would be a little more meaningful than just a "thinking of you text" I have the belief that if you put joy into the world and brighten someone else's day, they are more likely to do the same for someone else and hopefully cause a positive vibes ripple effect.

What would you do if your manager requests something from you, which you know you are not able to complete in time?

I am a very organized individual and keep lots of lists and schedules of the work that needs to be completed. So if my manager requested something from me that I knew I wouldn't be able to realistically complete, I would be upfront with them about the other deadlines that I am working under and tell them how much of the project I believe I could complete in that timeframe.

Why are you interested in this position?

I am especially drawn to the opportunity to work with a growing team to help develop the health benefits operations and solve problems relating to current systems and processes

What do you want with your next job?

I am looking to learn new skills, be challenged, make a difference, and fit in. I have a worked in a lot of different positions and industries and I would like to continue to build on that to have a diverse work experience. Additionally, I like to be strategically challenged with work and be able to solve complex problems and ultimately make a positive difference within the organization.

Why do you want to work for Gusto?

I am very passionate about small business and entrepreneurship because I believe that small businesses are powerful tools to enable social change and community economic development or empowerment. This is because small businesses are better connected to their employees and more likely to pay fair wages and offer better benefit plans and an overall good work experience. So when I came across Gusto, I was instantly drawn in because of its mission and belief that work should empower people to live their best life. I would be very proud to work for an organization that enables other businesses to empower their workers and their communities through an excellent HR platform or process. And then I kept researching Gusto and have found so many more reasons why I love this organization. I love how much it cares about culture fit. I know how important this is from starting and running a cafe with a group of individuals who were all passionate about the same causes and then seeing how much it changed and went downhill after we passed the leadership roles onto new individuals who weren't as passionate or didn't have the same passions as us.

Please walk me through your favorite app.

I have an iphone and listen to podcasts constantly. So my favorite app is probably the apple podcast app. So first you click on the app to open it, and you are brought to a page with recently downloaded podcast episodes for you to choose from. Additionally, there are a handful of buttons on the bottom of the app for you to choose from if you would like to browse by program instead, explore new options based on the things you already have downloaded, or search for a person, topic or program on your own.

When was a time you had a difficult customer and what did you do to resolve the situation?

I interacted with several different difficult customers but one in particular interaction has stayed with me over the years. We have a policy where we do not accept 100 dollar bill. My coworker helped a man who tried to purchase a 1.50 cup of tea with the large bill, and when she told him we do not accept them, he became extremely aggressive, made a scene, and even began verbally insulting her. I stepped in to diffuse the situation, placed my hand on her shoulder and made eye contact so she knew I was taking over and she could remove herself from the situation. I apologized to the man for the inconvenience about our policy, briefly explained it, and told him to take the tea on the house. Afterwards, I told Mellissa that she didn't do anything wrong and made sure she was okay. The man actually continued to come into the store for quite some time and always brought smaller bills with him

Whats the most recent thing you geeked out on?

I just recently started brewing my own Kombucha at home and I finally managed to get some good carbonation after the second fermentation and I was freaking out. I took so many pictures to send to friends and was telling everyone about it even if they didn't know about the drink

What are your strengths?

I love to collaborate and have high emotional intelligence which makes me a great team player but also a very effective leader. Additionally, I am a very motivated and passionate individual and always give my best effort to my work.

What would your one super power be based off of your character traits?

I think it would be to read minds. Now of course if the question were what super power do you want to have, this would be a different answer. I just think that I have really strong emotional intelligence and I'm able to read other peoples true emotions even if they aren't conveying it with words or if they're words are saying otherwise.

What would your former colleagues say about your skills or work?

I think they would say that I am a hard worker, thorough, and good at multitasking. In my last internship, I took on a lot of projects from different coworkers and was sure to complete them all within their respective deadlines. I was constantly working on several projects at once and taking on new ones as people asked for my help.

What are your weaknesses?

I would say two weaknesses are that I have a hard time saying 'no' when necessary and need to work on my life-work balance. I had a lot of trouble with this during college because I put too much of my self-value in my professional and academic successes. This led to a lot of burn-outs and after graduating, I ended up taking several months off to travel and regain some of that lost energy. Conversely, without the constant accolades received from work and school, I felt a little lost. I realized that in order to avoid burnouts and the unhealthy amount of self-worth surrounding work, I needed to develop more joys and hobbies in my personal life, which is something I have been working on lately.

Tell me about a time you made a mistake.

I'm human so I make mistakes all the time but as I got older, I became more confident in owning up to them. The first thing that comes to mind, is something in my personal life. I was sitting in my mom's really nice living room and I was eating a bowl of pickled beets and she told me specifically to be very careful bc the juice stains. I brushed it off and told her I would be fine. Even though I was being careful, a little bit splashed off my fork and landed on her couch. A moment passed where I was super nervous and shameful and then I thought, oh goodness its only going to get worse if i don't say something right now. So I told her, apologized, and then jumped up to run to the kitchen to get cleaning supplies. This might sound dumb or small, but I was actually really proud of myself for owning up to it right away because I can think back to so many times I tried to hide things like that with my parents when I was growing up.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In five years, I see myself working for a collaborative, growing organization in a position of leadership within the operations department or team. I see myself continuing to learn and develop my skills, enabling others to do the best work they can do

What are your future goals?

In ten years, I see myself starting or owning my own business. Which is actually one of the other reasons why I am drawn to Gusto. I love that it works with small businesses. Not only do I think that I can be a valuable resource to Gusto and its clients but I also think that I will be able to get a lot of value out of my time working with Gusto.

What is one company you admire that has good customer service?

In the past several months, I flew with Jet Blue and was actually pleasantly surprised with the quality of their customer service. Something went wrong during our trip and an associate told us that they would make a note in our account and when we returned home, we could contact the support line and request the refund. I assumed that I was going to have to go into this call fighting for my refund so I mentally prepared myself first. However, the person who I spoke with was extremely kind, helpful, and sympathetic. She said she put in the request and would be sending me a follow up email with the tracking number so I could be sure that it was being put through.

What were you doing the last time you were daydreaming or looked at a clock and realized you had lost all track of time? What about that held your attention?

It probably had something to do with food. Not eating it but coming up with new recipes. I love to cook and bake and I often randomly think of a flavor combination in my head and then start to develop it more and more and then I start to think of other flavor combinations and what I could make with them. I have so many notes in my phone that just say something along the lines of" goat cheese cheesecake with graham cracker crust or chocolate cake with blueberries and avocado icing'

Tell me about a time you set a goal and achieved it.

Situation: In our second semester of operations at Rad Dish, we realized that our working-member base was very small (almost non-existent beyond the board of directors). Task: We had to find new, young members to join the co-op in order for us to survive in the long term. Action: That semester, I spoke to over 10 classes, hosted at least 5 events in the space, reached out to professors to take their classes on tours of the café, and tabled at numerous events around campus. In these events we described what the cooperative business model was, what the Rad Dish does exactly, and why it is so exciting and rewarding to be involved. Result: At the end of that semester, we grew our sweat equity base from about 2 students to over 20 members.

What value would you add to the company or team?

There are several reasons that I believe I would add value to Gusto. First of all, I am passionate about Gusto as a whole and not just one specific position or role. Furthermore, I have a wide ranging skill set that applies to several wings of the organization. Therefore, I would be prepared and enthusiastic to help the Benefits Transfers Team reach their goals but also excited to collaborate and work cross functionally when needed. Second, I have a lot of experience with collaboration and working in small, tight knit teams which makes me an excellent team player that is always ready to lend a hand when a coworker needs it. Third, I am passionate about small business and your mission and therefore would be a very enthusiastic and motivated employee.

Tell me about an unpopular decision you had to make.

There came a time when the finance committee and I realized we needed to raise prices at Rad Dish. We told the rest of the board of directors and no one was happy about it and there was a lot of pushback. So for our next meeting, I came prepared with a short presentation showing my spreadsheets on what each menu item costs to make now that we changed suppliers for certain ingredients compared to how much we charged. I also prepared a sign for us to put into the cafe for our customers to understand why we raised prices and trained our employees on what to tell anyone who asked about it or was concerned.

Tell me about a time you used problem solving in a situation.

We had this thing we called the "carrotpocalpyse" at rad dish where all of our suppliers ran out of carrots several months ahead of projections and we had carrots in almost every savory menu item. First I broke the problem up into stages. First of all, I had to figure out what I was going to replace the carrots with for the upcoming week since it was too late to place another order. We went to the store and bought enough organic carrots to last the week and make a note for our counter explaining that our carrots were not being supplied from our local sources this week but were organic. Second, I needed to figure out what to do for the remainder of the semester, I reached out to all of our suppliers to see if they had carrots or knew of anyone else who did. No luck. So I went through the seasonal availability sheet they provided to us prior and confirmed that substitute ingredients would indeed be available as long as they said they would. Third, I didn't want this problem to occur in the future when I was no longer in charge, so I worked on creating a book with little tidbits of advice for situations like this in an attempt to create institutional memory.

How do you react to change?

When I was in college, I cofounded a student run cooperative café. It was a brand new organization, it was run completely by a hand full of students who had a whole lot of other things on their plates, and we had to comply with some university policies that seemed to pop up and be created out of nowhere. Nothing about the Rad Dish was static. Everything was constantly changing and we just had to adapt the best we could to it all. Personally, I love change. I was just reflecting on this concept with a friend recently actually. In the past year and a half, I have lived in so many places because of college, internships, a semester abroad, traveling, and sometimes just wanting something a little new. I've become so used to impermanence that it isn't scary for me anymore. It actually excites me and keeps me on my toes. I'm always up for a new challenge.