Operation Smile Interview Questions
& Process

It started with a recruiter call, then an interview with a VP and senior manager where we talked about personal goals, past projects, and the company's mission. After that, there was a take-home assignment using R to clean patient data. The final stage was presenting my findings from the take-home assignment to Caroline, the plastic surgeon I'd be working with. I got a written offer for $65k, and the recruiter explained the compensation. I sent a counter-offer, and after the weekend, they rescinded the offer, saying they didn't have the budget and were changing the role. I followed up and they told me on a call it was due to budget and role transformation. Honestly, it felt unprofessional to get a written offer and then have it pulled, especially with negotiation. They might have sent multiple offers or disliked negotiation. I wouldn't recommend them based on this experience, though I respect their mission and hope this doesn't happen to others.

The Program Coordinator interview process is pretty long and honestly, a bit much. I applied back in March, then had my phone and Skype interviews in early April. After that, I finally got invited for the in-person interviews in mid-May. They had about 5-7 openings and invited around 18 people to the in-person part. We were there at Operation Smile from 8:30 AM to 5 PM, and then they asked us to plan a dinner for the staff. I'm not really sure what the staff is looking for with this – it feels like a mind game, and not exactly 'fun' like they said it would be.

This was one of the worst interview experiences. HR was very inconsistent, sometimes being in touch for a week and then disappearing for months. The interview plan changed multiple times before someone finally called me. After the in-person interview, HR didn't contact me for weeks about the role status, even after I emailed and left messages. They seemed disorganized and didn't seem to value my time.

The interview process was two parts. First, there was a phone screening with the HR internship coordinator. Then, an in-person interview happened with the learning and development director and the HR internship coordinator. The phone interview was the longest. I got an offer at the in-person interview at Operation Smile headquarters.