How to Answer: At Wayfair, we encourage you to help us set new standards. What would you change about our company right now if you could?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Wayfair job interview.
29. At Wayfair, we encourage you to help us set new standards. What would you change about our company right now if you could?
What You Need to Know
Alarm bells are ringing! This question is a scary one to be asked because you don't want to be an abrasive know-it-all, showing the interviewer how you would run the company if it were yours. Also, you don't want to appear as a passive candidate with zero opinion or creativity. Your best bet is to speak from your first-hand experience. For instance, maybe you have a suggestion for the customer or even the candidate's journey. Perhaps you see an opportunity for more social media engagement. Whichever advice you bring up, keep it light and end your statement with a compliment.
Written by Rachelle Enns on January 31st, 2019
How to Prep
Wayfair expects their employees to "Innovate & Improve." Showcase how you use data to your advantage. Detail how you would take every opportunity to learn why they do things the way they do behind the scenes at Wayfair. Then describe how you'd take advantage of your outside-of-the-box creative view to innovate and improve anywhere you can. "We are not limited by precedent. We boldly challenge the norm. We continually identify opportunities to innovate, improve, and simplify. We value incremental improvements, but we also look for game-changing breakthroughs."
Written by Kevin Downey on June 17th, 2023
1st Answer Example
"I would love to see Wayfair have more stories on Instagram and Snapchat on decor ideas, new products, and fun ways to decorate small spaces. With so many options for social media engagement, I look forward to pitching some of my ideas. The clean color scheme on your Instagram grid is inspiring and fun to scroll through."
Written by Rachelle Enns on January 31st, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"Now that I have gone through the candidate experience, I can genuinely say that it's one of the smoothest I have experienced. With that said, if I could change anything, I would make your candidate portal a bit easier to work through on mobile. Other than that, your team has been super responsive, friendly, and welcoming!"
Written by Rachelle Enns on January 31st, 2019
Anonymous Interview Answers with Professional Feedback
Anonymous Answer
Rachelle's Feedback
Anonymous Answer
Rachelle's Feedback
Anonymous Answer
I noticed there aren't many licensed products for children, I saw a few bedsheets, but I know there's a big market in Germany for licensed products, so it might be interesting to try them.
Also, now that myToys is going out of the market, it could be an idea to expand this segment."
Jaymie's Feedback
About the Author
Interviewing and hiring someone is a huge responsibility. You not only need to find someone with the right skills and qualifications but someone who will get along with everyone else on the team and will be able to represent the company and its core values. That hire needs to be diligent and trustworthy while following the standards and processes everyone else adheres to. They need to perform with consistency, be emotionally intelligent, and be respectful of the needs and concerns of the others on the team. They need to seek out proactively a deeper understanding of the nature of the company and their teammates. That’s a tall order to determine when interviewing anyone. But it’s all part of the recruiter’s job.
If the team doesn’t get along with that hire, or that hire introduces an unwelcome attitude to the workplace. One person’s consistent attendance issues can impact the job satisfaction of everyone else on the team, lower productivity, and negatively impact the performance of the company as a whole on either a micro or macro scale. So when an interviewer decides to hire any person, they are putting their reputation on the line.
Looking for the perfect hire requires strong attention to detail. So there were a variety of things I would look for. I’d examine their cover letter, resume, or application for inconsistencies, from formatting to punctuation. I would scrutinize the consistency of their answers from one question to the next. But, I would first and foremost evaluate why they wanted to work for us. If they were playing the numbers game trying to find a job anywhere, it was pretty evident.
But, it was those applicants who seemed to have an inside view, or inherent understanding, of the real qualifications of the job that I’d put at the top of the pile. They understood the job expectations and the culture and already seemed like they were one of the team. So much of this comes through in one simple thing: their enthusiasm. They had an energy that fit right in. This is something that can rarely be faked.
If you invest the time to gain a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what life is like working somewhere, and when the more you learn, the more you get emotionally invested in that opportunity, the better your chances will be for winning that job. For the interviewer, when it comes to identifying how consistent a candidate’s work performance would be, the truest test is determining how well they understand the job and how enthusiastic they are to work there, even after everything they learned. That alone suggests they’ll consistently do whatever it takes to win the job and, once hired, go the extra mile for the team.
Learn more about Kevin Downey