Center for Effective Philanthropy Interview Questions
& Process

I interviewed in July at the San Francisco office. I had an initial phone screening with the head of HR, a timed assessment, and an in-person series of interviews. The phone screening was straightforward and standard, mix of sharing information about the role/org and asking questions. The assessment was three-part to assess email communication/prioritization, data cleanup/management and calendaring. I received the materials at a scheduled time and had 2 hours to turn it back in. The last round was in-person and consisted of three interviews with various team members covering specific areas of skills as related to the role. Overall the interview process was very organized and the team was professional and engaged. At times communication was delayed but nothing out of the norm for applications.

I played phone tag with the hiring manager who canceled my phone screen the first time. Then I got notice that I’ve moved onto the 2-hour-long skills assessment phase. After spending 2 hours outside of my full-time job completing that, I was brought in for a 4-hours-long ordeal in-person to interview with different members of the team. I prepared tirelessly for this, had to purchase business casual clothes, and had to take the day off from my current job in order to be there. In each interview, I was only given about 5 minutes to ask questions. One of the 2-person groups that interviewed me kept exchanging looks and laughs that made me feel like an outsider. I got no responses to the thank you emails I sent to each staff member after interviewing. After 2 weeks of radio silence, I had to follow up with them to find out that I did not get the position.

The interview process started with a one-hour phone call. After that, there was about 4 weeks of silence. Then, I was invited for an in-person interview that lasted 4 hours and included a testing section at the end for things like scheduling. After another few weeks of silence, I received an email stating that I did not get the job. The people were nice, but it taught me that if companies don't maintain engagement with candidates, they aren't truly interested. The interviews felt difficult because of how long they were and the significant time gaps between stages.

The interview was about an hour and included questions about data-driven projects, my programming background, statistical knowledge, and work preferences. After that, there was a technical test with some easy Excel problems and a phone chat. I messed up a question about picking the right statistical test for comparing means between two samples. They said they'd get back to me soon, but I never heard from them after the technical test.