Camstoll Group Research Analyst Interview Questions
& Process

I went through three rounds of interviews. The first was with two Directors, and it was mostly about my research process, ending with a simple Arabic translation test. The second interview, about 45 minutes, was a bit more challenging, with one interviewer being somewhat aggressive and making a jab about my current role. The final interview with the CEO, also around 45 minutes, was polite, but he emphasized ideological alignment over specific skills. He really values neutrality and strongly dislikes bias. They ultimately decided not to hire anyone.

I found the job on a university board and heard back about an interview pretty much the next day. They set it up for about a day after that, which I confirmed. I was stoked that things were moving so fast, especially since I saw some other reviews saying HR was slow, which wasn't my experience. So, the interviewer told me how it would go: First, a phone call that went for over an hour. We talked about IA, what I'm into research-wise, what I'd want to work on, and how I gather info. Then, a meeting with a director where I had to use my native language skills to look at an article (like from the BBC or Al Jazeera) and transliterate it. Lastly, an in-person chat with the whole department.

I was contacted by HR after two months to set up an interview. The interview was on the phone with an associate manager. He mostly asked me about my interests, like which international affairs subjects I was interested in, what I had been doing the past 6 months, how I research things I'm interested in, and what sources I usually use for shallow research. Then, he asked me to read out loud an article in a foreign language I know and then translate it. After that, I was supposed to write him back with a written translation of the entire thing. He did mention a research paper, so it seems that that is still a huge part of the process.