RH Interview Questions
& Process

It was a pretty easy conversation. They asked basic questions and seemed to care about getting to know you as a person just as much as your professional experience. They want to know what makes you interested in RH specifically and what unique assets you have to help the team as a whole.

I had a 40-minute phone screen with the assistant gallery manager where we talked about my work history, job preferences, and what interested me about this job. She also clarified the role since the posting was vague and it's a unique position. Then, I had a 1-hour in-person chat with the direct supervisor of the curating team. She asked what questions I had, but since I didn't have any, she spent a lot of time explaining the role and its workings. I basically led the conversation since she didn't have questions prepared, but my research was helpful. After that, I had a 1-hour interview with the gallery manager, who focused on me as a person – personality, weaknesses, personal history, and interest in the role. They repeatedly explained the role, hours, and duties, likely due to past issues with people not understanding their unique gallery/restaurant model. The next step would've been an in-person interview with the district manager, but I was rejected after the third step. The gallery manager mentioned the district manager likes to interview everyone because they live near the Oak Brook gallery. It seemed like a lot of rounds for what is essentially a cleaner and organizer role, but they emphasize personality and culture fit.

I talked to some managers and most of them were nice and helpful. But I had to go through seven interviews and then I had to ask them myself to find out they picked someone else. Every interview took about an hour, and two of them were in person. They were fast to contact me and set up interviews. I thought it was weird that they didn't contact me for two weeks after the last interview to tell me they chose another candidate. This is especially weird because one of their main values is that they 'act fast.' I liked their values list, but it felt a little cult-like like others have said. It's a very corporate environment that some people might like. It sounded like I avoided a problem because some managers said it took over their lives.

I started interviewing with RH towards the end of October 2024 for a few design positions. The initial chats or Zooms were handled by Associate Gallery Leaders who mostly lacked interior design or significant furniture background, coming more from retail like Sports Authority, Gap, or Zara. These calls seemed to follow a pattern: they'd introduce themselves and then ask a couple of questions about me. Some interactions felt lively, while others seemed like they were just going through the motions as part of their duties. After two months, I submitted a design assignment that took a week, paid for my own travel to an in-person interview, and spent my Christmas break re-learning Autocad because Revit wasn't accepted. Following six interviews, a VP I hadn't encountered during the entire two-month process decided I wasn't enthusiastic enough when answering repetitive questions and reviewing my assignment for a second time via Zoom against a plain white RH backdrop. I should mention, I have over eighteen years of design experience and have held similar design management roles twice earlier in my career. I found the whole process to be very inefficient and disrespectful of my time. In the end, I suspect my age might have been a factor since I seemed to meet their other criteria. Or maybe it was because I inquired about turning a restaurant patron into a design client, and the suggested method was to provide them with samples to take home. As an experiment, I visited five different RH locations incognito and was never asked any questions or offered samples. It seems to me that the new RH Gallery business model isn't efficient and might not be a good fit for an experienced designer with an entrepreneurial mindset.