Center for Sustainable Energy Interview Questions
& Process

I had an initial interview and then a technical interview the next week. Everyone was friendly except for the lead interviewer, who was really passive aggressive. His camera and mic were terrible during the interview, which made me have to ask him to repeat himself a lot and misunderstand some of his questions. I don't know how he communicates with his team effectively. He didn't seem like someone I'd want to work with. The whole time it felt like he thought I was going to take his job, and honestly, after how the interview went, I could see why. The other interviewers were great to talk to, though.

I had a 10 minute phone call first. Then I went in person to interview with two people. After that, I had a final phone interview. It was pretty easy overall, nothing out of the ordinary. The whole process took about 2 months, with a few weeks between the in-person and final phone interviews, and then another month until I got the offer. The most concerning thing was that they didn't really seem to understand the position, which became clear once I was hired. They hired me for outreach, but then we weren't allowed to do any outreach, so I ended up just coordinating projects and doing random tasks.

So my interview experience was pretty weird and felt unfinished. It started with a recruiter call and a quick phone screen. The recruiter seemed nice and interested, asking standard questions that made sense. She thought I was a good fit based on my skills and we discussed salary, which was aligned. Then she said she needed to 'talk to the CEO' and would get back to me the next day. I didn't hear back for a few days, so I messaged her on LinkedIn. She replied asking me to 'hang on.' Later, she scheduled me for an in-person interview the following Friday. There was confusion with the confirmed date and time via email. When I finally met the CEO, he talked about himself for most of the hour-long meeting, even though he was late. He also criticized my current company and talked about his vision. He mentioned he likes to do a 'screening' before team meetings to save time, which seemed odd for a CEO. He asked a basic question about handling a job aspect, seemed indifferent, and said I'd hear back. I haven't heard anything in two months.

The whole thing took about two weeks. I applied on the website, and then had a call with someone. A few days after that, they set up an in-person interview with a group of four interviewers. They called me for a writing assignment the day after my in-person interview. HR said they really liked me for the job. After I sent them the writing sample, I didn't hear anything back. I sent two follow-up emails, one asking about when they'd make a decision and another asking for feedback since they weren't responding. I was really shocked by how they treated me after I went through three parts of their interview process. It felt rude and not professional. I wasn't asking for the job, just wanted to know their final decision. Any company that interviews you should at least have the courtesy to tell you their decision within a reasonable timeframe.