City Colleges of Chicago Interview Questions
& Process

It was a pretty standard interview. They were interested in hearing about my past work and what I've done. The person interviewing me was nice and easy to talk to. They also wanted to know about some specific projects I was involved in and what difference I made.

Applied on a Wednesday and got a call that Friday to set up an interview for the following Monday. The first interview was a panel with the HR Director, Dean, and two instructors. That same Monday evening, the HR Director called to schedule another interview with the President for the very next day, Tuesday. The President offered me the job on the spot. The day after, I spoke with the HR Director again and they sent over the background and drug test information. Once the board approves, I'll get my start date. The whole process was super quick and the interview was easy.

First you have an interview with the department chair. You will probably go back and forth between emails until you have to meet. At the in person interview it is not as bad (depends on dept chair). They may ask your prior experience, what can you bring the to college, and what are your expectations. Next you will hear back if you passed this interview. If you did you will have to meet with the Dean of instruction for an interview (not every college has this). He/she will ask you more in depth questions mentioned below. Lastly if you pass this you will have to fill out a million pages of paperwork, pass background checks, drug tests, etc. It takes a good month or so because things move slowly between departments.

It began with an HR phone call where they asked some basic questions from the job description. Then, I was given a take-home assignment that involved preparing a short presentation for the Strategy team on how to structure evaluation metrics for a strategic initiative called "Reinvention" across different participants in the colleges. On the interview day, I met with two department heads for related research/data analytic roles. Afterwards, I presented my slides to a larger group of about 8 staff members, followed by a discussion. They seemed positive and engaged, acknowledging some areas where I was less experienced but recognizing my strong skills and useful background. The HR representative was very kind and practical. We discussed salary, and I mentioned ranges from other interviews. She indicated their offer would be at the very low end of that range and suggested improving it might be difficult.