St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Director Interview Questions
& Process

I applied on the St. Jude's website. It took a few weeks to hear back, but after that, things moved pretty quickly. I had the standard phone screen, then a full day on-site with faculty and staff. There was another on-site visit that lasted about 1.5 days. The whole process was very professional. It took about 2 to 2.5 months from my first interview to when I got the offer.

My interview process started with a typical recruiter phone screen, followed by a phone screen with the hiring manager and some other important people. Then came the on-site interview. The whole in-person part was really messy. I got mixed up info about hotels and had to sort out my own reservations. When I got there, the first interviewer wasn't in that day and I waited alone for 30 minutes. I met someone in a white coat who isn't in a clinical role, which felt like a weird power move. Another interviewer seemed to just Google interview questions. One person mostly chatted with the previous interviewer instead of talking to me. Then, I talked to someone filling in for a direct report who was 'sick,' and they told me about low morale, which felt passive-aggressive. I asked basic questions about the org structure, but nobody could give a clear answer. The hiring manager and their boss were fine, but the others were just odd. They asked for references before discussing an offer, which is a huge red flag since they check references even if you won't get an offer, and they want current coworkers, making it hard to keep your search quiet. The reference check itself was a joke – an anonymous online survey that's easy to fake. After all that, I decided I didn't want to work there, especially since it's been over 6 weeks and my interview expenses still aren't paid back, even after chasing them multiple times. If they can't manage the interview process, I doubt they'd be better internally. It's embarrassing to have to explain to my references why I was being checked out for a job I'm not getting. While St. Jude does great work, they seem really egotistical and maybe don't care about treating people well if they have enough applicants. But an interview is a two-way street, and I didn't feel respected or organized. So, I declined further consideration.

I got an invite for a HireVue about a week after applying. After I sent in my video responses, they emailed me for a virtual panel interview with the hiring manager. Then the recruiter called me to tell me more about the job, including the salary. I wasn't into it anymore but I did the interview for practice. If the recruiter had called me first, we could have skipped the HireVue. The recruiter did call me personally to say I didn't get the job, which was nice.