applying for an APM-adjacent role on their digital commerce team. everyone says IKEA is culture-first and I believe it but I genuinely don't know if that means they'll cut a strong product candidate for giving a generic answer about 'loving furniture' or if it's more nuanced than that.
also: are there case studies or product exercises? or is it purely behavioral? I've been doing STAR prep but I want to know if I should also be doing product sense drills.
nervous about this one because it's a long process and I don't want to do 5 rounds and bomb on something I could have prepared for.
3 replies
jordan_pm
from what I've seen it's both, but you can't bluff the culture stuff. they will keep probing until you give a real answer or fall apart. the product competency is table stakes. the culture alignment is the actual filter at IKEA specifically.
careerveteran
the way I explain this to candidates: culture fit at most companies is a last-round checkbox. at IKEA it's an early filter. do the culture homework first, not last. read about their 'democratic design' principles, co-worker spirit, their view on simplicity. then build your STAR stories around those values where you can.
pm_priya
I did a product exercise for a mid-level PM role there about two years ago. short take-home, design a feature for IKEA.com with a brief on constraints. not sure if they still do it for APM-level but worth asking the recruiter what formats to expect.