National Governors Association Interview Questions
& Process

I was first emailed by an HR person with 5 background questions. After I answered those, I got an invite for an in-person interview with the HR person. Since I was out of town, they changed it to a phone interview. I interviewed with the department head over the phone. He mentioned he lost two employees and that my job would be to do both of their jobs (research and program planning), even though the role was just for a part-time research internship. I didn't hear back for over a month. I sent a thank you and a question right after the interview, but got no response. Three weeks later, I emailed the interviewer and HR contact about the status. Today, February 8, I got an automated email from a different HR contact saying they hired someone else.

I sent in my application online and after about a month, I got an email to set up an interview. The interview took around 45 minutes and was pretty casual. It mostly focused on my past work experiences. The office itself wasn't huge, but it felt professional, and it was in a building with other well-known companies. The three people who interviewed me were a peer, the program director, and someone senior. They were all friendly and put me at ease. The work atmosphere seemed academic and professional, but not overly formal. Overall, I left with a positive impression of the company, its office, and the staff.

They reached out quickly for the first interview. It seemed to go really well, and HR said I was a great fit and they'd be in touch in a couple of weeks to set up the next step with the COO and Hiring Manager. But then three weeks passed with no word. I sent a follow-up email, and still, no one got back to me.

It felt like a long process, I think mine took around six weeks. I had three interviews, beginning with a preliminary one with HR and ending with the executive director. It seemed pretty simple. There were questions to evaluate your sense of bipartisanship.