MDRC Research Interview Questions
& Process

I applied for a few Technical Research Assistant jobs and ended up hearing from the K-12 education team. Since it was a technical role, I had to submit a programming sample and my resume and cover letter. About a week after that, I got a call to set up a phone screen with a Technical Research Analyst. It was a pretty standard call, nothing too hard, just asked about why I was applying, my interest/experience in K-12 education, and if I had data analysis/management skills, which they said the role required a lot of. Everything went well. A couple days later, they called to set up an in-person interview at their New York office. I was already going to be in town, so it was convenient, and they mentioned they might cover travel expenses. A few days after that, I went in for the interview, which involved three 1-on-1 meetings with people from the K-12 education team, each at a different level. I also had a quick chat with an HR person beforehand to sort out logistics. These interviews were okay, no really difficult questions, mostly focused on my interest in K-12 education and my ability to work with data. Two interviews were in person, but the last one, with a Research Associate in Oakland, was via Skype. Everyone seemed nice enough, but I got the vibe they weren't super interested, which is a bummer. Finally, I had to do a skills test where I reviewed a report for errors like typos, formatting issues, grammar mistakes, and incorrect numbers. It wasn't too hard. About a week later, they asked for my references. Another week or so passed, and I got a letter saying they decided to go with someone whose qualifications were more specific to the role. I kind of figured this from the interviews. I had the data analysis skills I thought would be enough, and I even told them about another offer I had for a data analysis job, but I guess my lack of K-12 education experience was the main issue, which I sensed during the interviews. It's just frustrating to go through the whole process if that was the main deciding factor, something that seemed clear from the start. Overall, it was a decent process.

The initial phone interview was quite straightforward. The main things to focus on are knowing why you're interested in working there and being able to talk about your organizational skills. They also threw in a scenario question about preferring to submit work late without mistakes versus on time with errors. It's a good idea to have some questions ready for the interviewer. I got a bit flustered at the end because I hadn't prepared any questions for them. Now I'm just waiting to see if they'll invite me for a follow-up in-person interview.

The interview process was long, taking about two months to complete. First, I had a phone call with an assistant. They mentioned I'd get a confirmation for a follow-up phone interview within two weeks. After waiting two weeks with no reply, I reached out to my contact. She admitted she forgot to send the interview details to her supervisor. It took another week and a half to set up the interview with the supervisor. I felt the organization was quite rigid and bureaucratic. Two weeks after that, I got an email saying I didn't qualify for the next step. Even though I didn't make it, I think they do great work for the community!