Terrific briefing from Quartz on Warby Parker’s recent IPO and how they were doing one week later. In the interesting read, they described the kinds of questions typically asked of job candidates: How do supply chains work? Would you go to Mars if you had the opportunity? What a recent costume you wore? Look at this eye chart and tell me what you see.*

These questions reminded me how companies, large and small, have to always keep on brand, including what gets asked of job candidates. You can’t skip any point in the customer journey to building and enhancing your reputation. I wonder how many companies even think to ask questions that reflect on their company reputation and talent expectations. I recall way back that Microsoft, Facebook and other tech companies chose job interview questions that gave you an indication of the types of questions and culture you’d encounter if you worked there. Glassdoor has a section on job interviews and what to expect you could be asked but I doubt that the majority of companies frame questions that align with their brand personality and reputation. I could be wrong. I went to several company Job Interviews/Questions Asked on Glassdoor and did not find much of anything that seemed deliberately on brand. Perhaps something for me to explore more deeply.

I also learned in the briefing that Warby Parker used to sell a monocle (an eyeglass for one eye) which it turns out was one of their poorest selling items. The monocle was included in their debut line in 2010 and was named after Colonel Mustard from the murder mystery game Clue. Hah. They kept the beautiful tortoise shell piece for a number of years. Why would they do that? The company says they kept it because it brought a smile to customers’ faces when they stumbled upon it in surprise, it’s timeless, it’s part of their brand statement and was a great conversation starter. You’d be likely to share with others too.

All good reasons and smart reputation-wise.

*Answer: C