The Chicago Council on Global Affairs Interview Questions
& Process

I had a Skype interview with HR, then an in-person interview with development staff. After that, I had another Skype interview with a different staff member. The last interview was in-person with the same development staff and two executives. The HR person was great, but some of the dev staff seemed unprepared. One executive didn't even know why I was there or that it was my fourth interview, and hadn't seen my resume. Interviewing with each dev person separately, sometimes more than once, seemed like a waste of time because they asked the same questions. The questions they asked weren't great, and I felt limited in what I could say. The HR person asked the best questions to see if I was a good fit. I waited over two weeks after the final interview for a rejection email from HR, which was really impersonal given the 10+ hours I put in. It felt like a generic rejection. They didn't give a real reason why I was rejected, which was disappointing but not surprising. Overall, it was a professional process, but some parts felt disrespectful and fake. I wouldn't apply again to this Council.

The interview process was pretty straightforward but took a long time to hear back from them. For an unpaid internship, I would say the interview was pretty intense and it is highly competitive. They receive a lot of applications for internships and are very selective with who gets called for an interview and then who actually gets the internships. The interview is actually great practice for future interviews because of how formal it is and the type of questions they ask.

It started with a phone screening with the HR Director. Then, I had a few 30-minute Zoom calls with people from different departments. The whole thing was pretty cool because it felt more like a conversation to see if we'd all be a good fit, not like an intense interview.

It began with a screening chat, and then I had an interview with the head of the development department. After that, I never heard back. I followed up via email a few times, but still no response. It was a really frustrating experience, and I felt disrespected by the company.