Saint Anselm College Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process kicked off with a phone screen, then a Zoom interview, and it wrapped up with an in-person visit to campus. The role and the Meelia Center seemed like a perfect fit for me, and the students looked great. In the end, I realized my values didn't quite line up with the institution's. It's fine, I didn't get an offer, but overall it was a good experience. They ended up hiring someone with more experience (I was told this role is entry-level, which was a bit confusing, but whatever). During my campus visit, I met with someone from HR who openly shared their salary cap without me asking. My biggest tip for interviewing here is to really think about whether your values align with the Catholic Benedictine values and if your politics are in sync with their conservative outlook. Most of the staff and faculty are alumni and Catholic, though they were really nice about it.

I put in my application online. I had a phone interview with the hiring manager that went well. Then, I was asked to come in for an onsite interview. I met with a group of 4 people who I would be working with closely, and they seemed impressed with my experience and my responses. After that, I had a meeting with HR, which was not a good experience. I thought we would talk about salary and logistics, but the HR person acted like they could assess my job qualifications better than the hiring manager. They asked me about my biggest accomplishment, which was a bit strange for an entry-level role. I mentioned the startup I co-founded that received funding. The HR person then asked if the startup was still running and commented, "Your biggest accomplishment is a failed startup?" Given that everyone in the startup world knows that most startups don't make it, I figured it was due to their lack of startup experience. I was surprised by how high the expectations were from HR for a position that doesn't pay very well for the industry.

I had a phone screening interview with an HR person. I actually spoke with the HR person several times. Then there was a one-on-one interview with my potential boss. After that, I had a group interview with the executive team (3 other people). Following the group interview, I had to take tests in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. They were deciding between 2 candidates, and the test was supposed to be the deciding factor. Both candidates did equally well, and they decided to go with the other candidate... until she didn't show up for the job. On the Tuesday after her start date, the boss called me and offered me the position if I still wanted it. I considered it for a day and then accepted the job.

The interview process took months and was completely out of proportion with the position advertised --one semester of elementary-level language teaching. The retiring professor who conducted the interviews spoke the language with mistakes; it is unclear how she could judge the candidates. In the end, after all the effort and time invested, I never even heard from them as to the result.