Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Executive Assistant Interview Questions
& Process

So, before they even interview you, you have to agree to their full vaccine policy. Once you get through the interview rounds, they then ask for your references. The HR person wouldn't talk about salary range before checking references. They weren't flexible about letting me finish getting vaccinated, so I couldn't start remote or come into the office. They asked if I'd still want to work there. Other firms I interviewed with also had vaccine policies, but they were more flexible about letting me finish the doses, allowing me to start remote, or even had exemption options. One firm interviewed me, liked my skills and how I presented myself, and then sent an offer. If I accepted, they would then do a reference check, which saves time. Even though I was excited about this opportunity and the design team was nice, the SF HR coordinator was totally inflexible. When I respectfully asked to discuss it, they invited me to withdraw. So I did, and I found better opportunities where I felt I'd be a valued, long-term collaborator.

I got reached out to by a recruiter on LinkedIn for this role. The international team was looking to fill the spot because the previous person wasn't performing well. The whole interview process took about a month, mostly because the hiring manager wasn't keeping me or the recruiter in the loop about any delays. My phone interview with the hiring manager went really well. Things got pretty annoying and inconsiderate on Skidmore's part when they tried to rush me to come in for the final interview. I told them my availability, but they ignored it and scheduled me for a day that didn't work for me. The interview was supposed to be about 1.5 to 2 hours, but it got cut short because the team was too busy celebrating Chinese New Year. I was only there for 30 minutes. Ultimately, I didn't get the job because they needed someone fluent in Mandarin Chinese, which they should have mentioned upfront. For a company as well-known and respected as Skidmore, this experience was disappointing due to their lack of consideration for my time.

Got a call for a first interview 3 days after sending my CV. Talked with the HR manager for about half an hour - really standard questions. The next day, they called me for a second interview with the technical director. I had to wait over 30 minutes in the conference room, but the interview itself went smoothly, and it was also standard questions.