Springboard Collaborative Interview Questions
& Process

This whole thing took ages, like months. It started with a screening call, then a follow-up call. After that, there was a three-hour timed work sample, which was pretty intense. Then came a bunch of interviews with different employees. First, they asked about accomplishments and learnings from my resume experiences. Then, they had me talk about accomplishments and learnings related to five specific goals or competencies for the job. They followed that up with another round of interviews asking about accomplishments and learnings for five more goals or competencies. That's where I stopped, but then they checked references and eventually made an offer.

The whole thing took about 3.5 weeks. First, there was a 30-minute phone interview. Then I had to complete a work sample with 4 exercises, and I was given 2 days for that. After that, I had a 45-minute video interview with one team member, then another 45-minute video interview with a different team member. Next, there was a 1.5-hour video interview with two more team members where we discussed my entire work history. They then checked two of my references, even though a decision hadn't been made yet. This felt a bit unusual because usually references are only checked if an offer is likely. It was also a bit tricky because one of the references they wanted to speak with was my current supervisor, who I'm fortunate to trust a lot, but I wondered what would have happened if I had pushed back. Finally, there was a 20-minute video interview with the President. After a week of no communication following the final interview, I followed up. The hiring manager responded within a few hours saying they decided to go with another candidate. Everyone I met was really nice, and the organization's mission is great, but it was a very long process. It felt a bit much to go through all of that just to get rejected. I think they should wait to check references, especially for current supervisors, until they've picked their final candidate, and maybe combine some of the video interviews. The process was pretty quick overall, except for that last week of silence.

The hiring process kicked off with a phone screen by an HR coordinator. Next, I tackled a two-part work sample, with one section due in 45 minutes and the other in 3 days. After submitting it, HR set up two video interviews. The first one focused on the role's specific goals and competencies. The second involved a deep dive into my resume. Following that, I was asked for 5 references (3 supervisors, 2 peers). A third and final interview, similar to the first, also covered specific competencies and goals. The entire journey from applying to getting the offer took about 5 weeks.

The interview process started with a phone screen, followed by a work sample and then a series of panel interviews for the final stages. It was weird because some of the staff members involved seemed to lack experience, and I felt some ageist dynamics, though maybe not intentionally. These same folks were in charge of hiring. They made candidates detail their whole career history, down to specific specifics for every job ever. This took up a lot of time that could have been spent on the actual role and current skills, especially for someone with 20 years of experience and volunteer work. After 11 hours of interviews and a work sample, they went completely silent for an unacceptable amount of time. The Founder/CEO wasn't involved at all and was barely mentioned. When I brought him up, people seemed uncomfortable, giving a strange Wizard of Oz vibe. It was odd for the CEO to not be in final interviews. I also found one senior staff member's public social media complaining about their job, which was a major red flag. I feel like I dodged a bullet.