Kauffman Foundation Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was great. As expected, there was a preliminary phone call followed by in-person meetings. The process included me giving a presentation and having discussions with various members of the Kauffman Foundation team. The atmosphere was relaxed, questions were relevant, and conversation flowed freely. Job responsibilities and expectations were clearly laid out, and I had many chances to ask my own questions. Although the interview happened in stages on different days, the HR team communicated excellently before, during, and after the process.

So applying for this job was kinda wild, and I wasn't sure if I should even review it, but I figured it'd be good for future folks to know what they're getting into. I applied back in Nov 2018, and then in Jan 2019, I had a phone screen, followed by two Zoom interviews in Feb. The first two went fine, but the second Zoom call, not so much. After that initial chat, they invited me to KC for an in-person interview. That went well, met with 9 people over 5 hours, felt like a good fit, and they said they'd be in touch next week. I thought an offer was coming, I was pretty stoked. But then, weirdness. Got an email saying they were still figuring things out and needed another week or two. That stretched out, I'd email them, they'd say 'still working on it, couple more weeks.' This happened over and over. Meanwhile, they reposted the job, which felt like they were keeping me as a backup while looking for someone better. They said they were still interested in me though, so I waited. Weeks turned into months, and after FIVE MONTHS of this 'give us a couple more weeks' routine, they offered the job to someone else. It felt super disrespectful, all the vague updates and silence was maddening. Plus, having friends and family ask about this job for 5 months was embarrassing. If they weren't ready to hire me, they should've just said so. Instead, they kept me hanging on, making me think a decision was always right around the corner. It made things way harder than they needed to be. Honestly, I think I dodged a bullet since it involved a big pay cut and a move. It would've been awful to move across the country for a job at a place that treats people this way. A heads-up about their process: they really struggle with deadlines, every single one they gave was way off. So if they say 'a couple weeks,' think '1-2 months.' Also, they won't update you unless you ask, so stay on top of them. People warned me about how slow things move there, and it took them 9 months to fill this simple role, so yeah, it's a real issue if you hate bureaucracy and slow decisions. Seems like there's not much autonomy for employees. On the bright side, many people I met were friendly and smart, and seemed to really care about their work. The building was cool, and the cafeteria was great. It's probably a fine place to work, just not for me. I hope this helps, definitely ask a lot of questions to see if it's the right fit for you. Good luck!

The interview process was long -- consisting of four months, one phone interview, two on-site visits and an assignment outlining how to approach content strategy for the organization. After putting quite a bit of time and work into the interview, it was disappointing to receive only a form email response from HR after asking for the status of my application.

The process kicked off with a Zoom interview with the Communications Director and Senior Manager, who asked me a bunch of general communication questions. They mentioned that the next step would be an in-person interview with a presentation, but after like three months of no news, I got an automated email saying I wasn't moving on.