Columbia Bank Associate Interview Questions
& Process

I went through 3 interviews, in addition to the recruiter phone interview. The area manager seemed like a teen trying to impress me, and we found out we had a previous employer in common. I discovered he exaggerated his career a bit and didn't actually want to hire me, even though the manager liked me. I was asked about selling and cold calling, and was told I'd be expected to go out, which is fine since I'm an experienced banker. I wasn't impressed that a co-worker also interviewed me.

I was contacted by Umpqua for the role. The process felt a bit disorganized because three different people reached out to schedule interviews, and they weren't coordinated. I had to make calls to clarify things. Typically, companies cover travel for candidates outside their area, but that wasn't offered here. I paid for my travel because I was really interested. Based on the vibe, I suspect they had already made a decision before my in-person interview. The interview process included three parts: a one-on-one chat, a panel interview, and a team meet-and-greet. The panel interview was peculiar, with questions unrelated to the role about how they could attract talent, plus some really basic accounting and financial statement analysis. It was straightforward bank stuff, not deep forensic accounting as I initially thought.

I got contacted pretty quickly after I applied online, like a day or two. The interview itself was quite lengthy, they asked a lot of similar questions about my past experiences and customer service stuff. It went on for nearly an hour. The two people interviewing me were good, they seemed to be managing the new interview process okay, but I never heard back about whether I made it to the next round or not. Even if it's a no, a heads-up would be nice. If you do move forward, you talk to two more people, and maybe even two more after that.