Denver Museum of Nature & Science Interview Questions
& Process

This was by far the worst interview process I've ever experienced in my 25+ year career. The interview was with 6 employees over Zoom where they each took turn asking questions, and at least half the questions were about how to manage a difficult team or problematic personalities, or how to motivate someone when they didn't want to do their job. Their final question was "which superpower would you have" which is the most inane question anyway, but especially after the slew of negative questions that preceded it which painted a picture of a dismal, dysfunctional place to work. I was happy to not receive a call to move forward for this dumpster fire of a job.

It was a pretty long interview process. It included a three-hour session where we walked around different offices and exhibits in the museum. The questions were good, and it was nice to meet people at different levels you might work with. But a couple of things I didn't love. First, hearing people say they're 'like family' there got mixed reactions. I'm not looking for a work family, I have one. I'm there for professional services for money. Cultures that say they're like family aren't my thing. Second, they seemed really proud it was hard to get a job there, implying prestige and competitiveness. I don't see that as a plus though. If you can't decide if you want to hire someone after two or three interviews, what else is there to figure out?

I applied online on June 13, 2022. On June 22, 2022, a manager emailed me with two time-slots for a phone screening with a copy-writer from the hiring team, who works closely with this role. They also requested my phone number confirmation. I replied, thanking them, picking one time-slot (June 27) and confirming my phone number. I didn't get a confirmation. On June 23, 2022, I emailed the manager to confirm the call details. No response. On June 27, 2022, 10 minutes past the scheduled start time, I still hadn't received a call or notification. I sent them a final email. So, they never got back to me after I confirmed my availability, picked a time, and provided my phone number for the slots THEY offered. Their communication was non-existent, unprofessional, dysfunctional, and unacceptable. Three strikes and they're out. Be careful applying for creative roles with them.

This was the most fun interview ever! It started with a phone call to see if the pay was okay for me. Then there was a group interview with three people: my future boss and two others who had jobs somewhat like mine. Besides the normal questions, there were two hands-on parts. First, they gave me some expense reports and asked me to figure out how to put them in a spreadsheet for tracking grants. Then, one interviewer pretended to be a teacher calling to reserve a spot for a school program, and I had to show my customer service skills on the phone. Finally, since being bilingual was a plus, they introduced me to a Spanish-speaking educator for a short chat so they could check how well I speak Spanish.