International Rescue Committee Manager Interview Questions
& Process

The interviews are pretty laid-back, not a lot of set questions. You'll get asked general stuff about your experience and how you'd manage in a high-stress job. They'll also give you a quick rundown of refugee resettlement and the office's background. It's mostly to see if you'd vibe with the director and the team. People there dress casually, but I wore a suit, which I think is probably expected. Some places have panel interviews, others just have the director interview you. Make sure you brush up on resettlement stuff before you go in, or you'll be lost.

The IRC has a super efficient and standardized hiring process. First, I had 3 phone calls with the same HR person. The first call was to go over my qualifications and work history, the general job description, and to see if I was interested and committed. It was important that I had the right education/work experience and also showed I really understood and was committed to the IRC mission. Second, we talked about benefits – they asked about my past salary and what I wanted to make. Then they asked me 4 key questions: 1) what I thought would be hard about the job, 2) a time I faced a challenge in my field (related job), 3) my management style, and 4) why I wanted to work on GBV issues. The HR person took notes, and then I was asked to answer 8 questions in writing within 24 hours. This was shared with the field coordinator (my potential boss), who interviewed me next. This interview was to dig deeper into my experience managing field projects and to answer my questions about the job and the current situation. The last interview was a technical one with the GBV advisor at HQ, and it focused on my understanding of GBV program design and monitoring. I have to say, the HR people and the field manager were great to talk to. They were friendly, easy to approach, and made me want to work for the IRC.

I went through 3 interviews. The first was a 30-minute HR phone screen, a really casual chat. I actually had a fever and told her, and she was super understanding. The second interview was in person, about an hour and a half, and it was all behavioral questions. They really wanted to hear how I'd use trauma-informed practices and client-centered approaches in my answers.