Center For Science in the Public Interest Interview Questions
& Process

It was a pretty standard 30-minute interview where I walked through my resume and highlighted relevant experiences. Since it was a graduate internship, heavy emphasis was placed on research experiences.

I applied and the Hiring Manager reached out to set up a phone interview. It was pretty standard. The next day, I got an email to schedule a video panel interview. The interview itself was also unremarkable, though I did notice all the fundraising staff were middle-aged white women. I was told I'd hear back by Friday or Monday, but I didn't. I ended up getting a rejection email about two and a half weeks later.

I applied for a job with CSPI and spoke with HR and the hiring manager. Both were very helpful, and I felt like we had good discussions. I sent a quick thank you note, but then didn't hear anything back for about a month. When I followed up, they said they were 'still deciding.' I knew CSPI could be slow, but at that point, I figured I wasn't really in the running. It would have been nice to at least get an update. I never heard back after that, and the job was taken off their website after two months. Honestly, just telling me 'we're going with other people' would have been more respectful. I really respect the organization and the smart people there, but their hiring process needs some work.

The hiring process for this role was excessively lengthy, spanning several weeks between each step. I completed two interviews and an assessment, which collectively took over two months to conclude. While the interviewers were quite friendly, the overall experience felt like a considerable waste of time in the end, especially given the straightforward, template rejection email I received.