Respectful of your time, we design our recruiting and interview process as an open exploration and conversation. From our lens, we are looking to learn (by listening - prompted by introductory questions) more about you so please feel free to relay information about you whether through the interview and point us also to your portfolio or academic output (such as thesis papers). As big proponents of Inclusive Design, we are open to learning about you from the widest possible framework and welcome any and all submissions. Generally speaking, we focus on behavioral interviewing to understand your motivations and strategic plan. We often have a design or case challenge (which is an application of Biodiversity Design) in Round 3. In the final Round 4, we turn back to who you are and your narrative. We greatly appreciate each candidate's time and hope that engagement with TEALEAVES is positive, educational and insightful. We understand that interviewing is a discovery for both sides to search for alignment of values, goals and environment and look forward to meeting bright and talented people!

Typically the interview process is a 5 week process to reflect Round 1 to Round 4 interviews (one week per interview Round). Please advise us if you are requesting an expedited (shorter) interview timeline. We will do our best to accomodate your request.

Interviews are a significant part of understanding who you are and what is your Career Development Strategy (and the logic of joining TEALEAVES). We love to hear descriptive examples, stories and substantive anecdotes that give us insight into your application. Specific examples provide helpful context and provide evidence of your aspirations, learning and experience. We encourage you to feel comfortable in this conversation.

Associates typically have a 4 year Career Development Strategy which is governed by a matrix informed by the Associate's specific goals. Each Associate has their own unique pathway and TEALEAVES works to both support, guide and nudge accelerated progress along that path. Associates may also apply and enter the Graduate School Prep Program where they apply to prestigious US, UK or EU grad school programs as a Fourth or Fifth Year Associate with strong support, advice and guidance from TEALEAVES.

Through your experience at TEALEAVES, you will have the preparation, skills, and network necessary to pursue a MBA, J.D. or a career in consulting, or brand / product management. Our Associates are smart, creative and most importantly, keen to change the world for the better. These colleagues and our collaboration partners will bolster your network and provide you with meaningful, valuable relationships over the decades to come - with reach into a plethora of prestigious institutions.

We are focused on outcome so as such, dress code (in an interview, in the office) is comfortable to produce your highest performance and impact. We have a formal dress code only when meeting with our clients and collaboration partners.

Generally, the answer is yes because our analysis of performance and impact has shown that both ideation and iterations are most effective (and fun) when in the company of others. We have a design-centric approach that is reflective of our collective culture - that is focused on 'genius' solutions to otherwise intractable problems. As such, especially for the first two years of an Associate, Manager or Director - we find that working together in the same room (whether that's in Toronto, Vancouver or elsewhere) avoids the issue of asynchronous communication (which is a constraint to dynamic, creative solutions). Exceptions are made for intern positions and on a case-by-case basis.

With our current Covid protocols (which are in a state of flux and dependent upon the guidance provided by BC Public Health authorities), only a small number of people are able to come into the office and up to 3 days/week. We are adopting these strict protocols to ensure safety of our colleagues, their family and community. As a sidenote, we tend to be more strict in safety also because of our adherence to food safety plans (such as GMP and HACCP). When it is deemed safe to do so, we will return to fully working in the office.

To get a good perspective of who we are, please visit our Nature x Design pro bono projects and activations. Rather than pontificate on who are we, we instead encourage candidates to look at the evidence (data) - which is our body of work. We trust that this work will be an accurate expression of why we do, what we do. From a blue-sky perspective, we are highly committed to our work and having a positive impact. Hopefully in your due diligence, you will agree that we are incrementally accomplishing this mission.