National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process raised some red flags for me. It wasn't super thorough: there was a 15-minute phone screen with HR, and then a 40-minute interview with a program manager and an HR rep. I got the offer about a week later. The interviewers were nice and talked a lot about how fast the company is growing and how much work there is to do, basically saying I'd be doing multiple jobs. But, HR wouldn't negotiate on salary at all. I asked for $4,000 more than they offered, and they gave me a long explanation about being a nonprofit. They wouldn't even consider a counteroffer that would have put me higher in the salary range they advertised. This kind of pushback before even hiring made me concerned about future salary growth. HR also kept saying the benefits were really generous to justify the lower salary, which seemed strange. Three weeks of vacation is pretty standard, and a 5% retirement contribution is good but not amazing. To make up for paying less, a lot of nonprofits offer better vacation or retirement matching. To top it off, HR wanted a decision within 24 hours. Overall, it seems like there are good people doing good work there, but there were too many warning signs for me to make the switch.

I had a phone interview that was pretty standard. Then I went in for an in-person interview which was very unprofessional. One person was late and rude, didn't say hi and then crossed her arms. I had to do a writing sample and when I asked a question, she rolled her eyes. It was the worst interview ever. I sent a thank you and asked about next steps, but they never responded even after I came in person. It felt disrespectful to not get any kind of email. Two people I know left this company, and now I get why.

I got an email from an admin assistant asking about my availability to chat with HR. A few days later, an HR rep called and asked some general questions, then asked about my availability for an interview with the Director. I interviewed with the Director, a couple of Analysts, and two other staff members a week later. They asked about my background, experience, interest in the job, what I knew about the job duties, the initiatives I'd be working on, and some personal questions like what motivates me and what I look forward to. Afterwards, I went downstairs to a cube and was given about 45 minutes to write a piece on one of the initiatives. I wrote it and designed it like a tri-fold. The whole process took about 2.5 weeks from the first contact to getting hired.

I applied online in October 2023 and had a 45 minute Zoom interview with the department director (who the Senior Program Analyst would report to) about one week after applying. I had an hour-long panel interview over Zoom about two weeks after the initial interview. The panel asked questions for about 40 minutes and I then gave a 10 minute training presentation (I had been asked to prepare a 10 minute training ahead of time). This was the last stage in the interview process and they said they'd let me know in a couple weeks. I followed up immediately after the interview-- to say thanks-- and then again about three weeks later. I never received a response. I'm giving this a "neutral" and not a thumbs down mostly because the interviews themselves went well and were enjoyable. I am disappointed in their lack of followup and being "ghosted" after going through all rounds of the interview process. Overall, I got the sense that the organization is somewhat disorganized and that they may feel overwhelmed with their amount of work. By some of the interview conversations I had, it also seemed that the program initiatives are being pushed by the agenda of their funders (CDC, mainly), but not necessarily being well-received by the local health departments which they serve. I hope this is useful information for those who are considering applying. I feel like I may have dodged a bullet, but I'd like to be hopeful that other departments may be better...