National Philanthropic Trust Interview Questions
& Process

Initial contact was made via a recruitment agency. The subsequent stage involved meeting with the CEO and another senior leadership team member. The interviewers were very nice, interesting, and friendly. Ultimately, I was disappointed not to proceed to a third stage.

I met with four different people across two months for this role. I was initially supposed to meet with the chief development person, but that got canceled. Later, I got a phone call from HR saying I was their final choice, but they wanted to keep the search going to compare me with others, making the process open-ended. Weeks after that, I got a brief system email saying the position was filled.

I applied for a management role in early August via Indeed. I got an email to schedule a screening Zoom within the week. After the Zoom, I sent a follow-up email and was told I would be meeting the department director/manager two weeks later. The Zoom with the department head went fine, I think. I sent a follow-up email to the recruiter/director thanking them for their time, but I didn't get a reply.

So HR did this nice, conversational first call, then another HR person set up an interview with the hiring manager, Y. That phone chat with Y was basically a review of my background and any questions I had. They hurried me to the in-person interviews, which were a 3-hour thing with 4 people in PA. The second HR rep I talked to also explained the area, benefits, and mentioned this personality/aptitude test I'd have to take, plus chatted about company culture and industry. I did that test before the in-person (details are in the questions section). The 3-hour in-person interview (plus 4 hours travel time for me) was with Y, his boss X, the COO, and Legal Counsel. The chat with Y went fine since we'd already covered my experience, and it was heavy on writing/owning security policies and procedures (compliance stuff). The next 30-minute interview with the COO and LC was mostly my background and policy/procedure creation for compliance, plus a bit on the industry. The last one was with X, and it got technical again. I went over my background, and X asked some technical questions. He then said he had more, but I clearly knew Cybersecurity, so he opened it up to me. I asked about culture, his view on the role, training, how much policy work would be involved, and management engagement. Felt good about it, thought an offer was coming. The next day, HR called with a 90-day contract offer, saying they needed to 'get a feel' if I was the right fit and I needed to 'get a feel' for NPT, the culture, and the area. They also said they'd keep the job listed and interviewing others, even though I'd be doing the work on a contract basis. No benefits, but they'd cover lodging. This was after they'd already called me the 'perfect candidate' and rushed the process to get me in before X went on vacation. I asked if others were being considered, and they said no, three others didn't pass phone screens, so I was the only one, and this was 'Round 1'. If I declined the contract, I'd be 'back in the pool' for 'Round 2' and possibly 'Round 3'. I mentioned I had other interviews and would respond next week. I followed up with questions about whether they'd hire others for the role I was filling, what happens if they did, if there were 90-day requirements, if the role would stay listed as full-time, and if they'd hire others full-time while I was on contract. No answers. After X returned, they rescinded the contract 'offer', saying I raised 'additional points and factors'. They said I was 'back in the pool' and they 'may bring me back in for a refresher'. No compensation for my travel/resources. I then told them I had other offers and wanted to withdraw my application. No further contact.