GiveWell Research Analyst Interview Questions
& Process

It was alright. I did four assignments over two months, which took about 20 hours total. I didn't get to an interview stage. GiveWell does pay for the assignments, which is good. But, I feel like these long assignments are kind of random and maybe not the best way to do things. My writing was good (it's what I do for a living), and I answered everything, but I still didn't move on. I think any issues with my assignments would be about how I structured things, not my writing itself, which doesn't seem like a great way to judge someone. If I were doing one of these assignments on the job, a manager could just tell me what they're looking for. I get that they don't look at resumes until later, but I think the big assignment part might make it harder for candidates to show what they can do before an interview.

I did three assignments for them over about six weeks. Assignments 2 and 3 were paid. The application process was super clear on their website, so I knew what to expect. I usually heard back within a week of sending in each task. The interview was weird though, because I got no feedback on my work, which made me think they don't really look at it closely. That's a bummer since I thought the point was to hire based on work quality, not background. The interview itself was pretty formal, like question after question, with standard stuff like 'tell us about a time...' They also sent some questions beforehand so I could prep. My rejection email just said there were many qualified people. I'm bummed about not getting more feedback since I put in a lot of time and effort.

After applying online, I got an email the following week. The first step had two parts. I had a short, informal ~15min phone chat where I could ask questions. I also got a paid work assignment (4-8 hours) to see if I'd move on. A few days after I sent it back, they let me know I'd reached the next stage, which was a final two-hour case interview. The case interview involved one hour to work on the case myself, and then an hour to go over it with someone from GiveWell via video. They gave me their decision a couple days after that.