Polaris Project Interview Questions
& Process

The entire process took about 5 weeks. After I sent in my cover letter and resume, following the ad's instructions, I got an email about 4 days later asking for an interview. The phone chat with my future manager was really great and welcoming. Then, I had to do a timed competency assessment for the hiring decision. I also got to ask questions about the company's culture, history, and goals, besides talking about the job itself. After the interview, HR handled most of the communication.

I was initially contacted by Polaris in October 2017 for a phone screening. That interview went well with straightforward questions. However, the follow-up and in-person interview were a different experience. The HR person scheduled my interview for 9:00 am even though I told her I'd be traveling from NYC to D.C. She also didn't give my name to security, so even though I arrived on time, I had to wait for someone from Polaris to escort me. Plus, the HR person didn't even show up for the interview, despite being listed on the panel. The interview committee also didn't get back to me with feedback after I followed up via email. The panel included the Director of Data Analysis, Senior Manager of Development, Senior Manager of Technology Operations, Manager of Corporate & Strategic Partnerships, Chief Operations Officer, and the HR Generalist (who was a no-show). It seemed like they hadn't prepared questions, except for the first couple of introductions. For the remaining 1 hour and 20 minutes, they were making up questions, and only the COO took notes. I think Polaris could be more considerate with follow-up and interview preparation, as many candidates have to travel and take time off work. Overall, the interview process lacked coordination and was poorly managed, which is surprising for an organization that supposedly advocates for labor rights.

So the first thing was this 30 min phone screen and it was actually pretty chill. The person interviewing me was on the team and super nice, it felt like a chat. After that, I was really feeling good about the job. Then they invited me to a final in-person interview. I had a date conflict pop up, but the team was super cool about rescheduling. The second interview was in person with all 3 team members. The questions were kinda weird, like they were trying to throw me off or get some out-there answers. One part, they gave me this confusing diagram with no context and asked me to explain it to someone on the phone, which felt unfair since I didn't have time to look at it. Then they asked if I had passions, but it sounded like they assumed I didn't. When I talked about what I'd bring to the team, they made me repeat my answer. The whole interview felt strange, not really professional, and kinda confrontational. It seemed like they either weren't serious about hiring or they have these odd interview tactics. Honestly, it felt like a poorly designed way to see if someone fits. If that kind of thing works for you, then maybe take this with a grain of salt. For me, I'm glad it went that way because I knew right away I wasn't going to move forward.

Had a quick call with the recruiting director to see if I was interested and talk about salary and basic fit. She was friendly and told me a lot about the company and the job. Then, I had an onsite interview with the person who has the job now and the COO, who I would report to. They were also nice and answered all my questions, even explaining why some reviews on Glassdoor were negative. They seemed really excited about the company's future direction. It felt like the company is in a major period of change and growth, and that the transition might be a bit bumpy.