The Culinary Institute of America Interview Questions
& Process

It was a quick, efficient, and informative process. First, I had a phone call with HR. I received a callback within a couple of days and then scheduled an in-person interview with the hiring director and all the stakeholders in the department.

The interview process involved a 20-minute introductory phone call, followed by a 1-hour Zoom interview that actually lasted almost 2.5 hours and felt like it went really well. Then, there was an in-person interview scheduled for 30 minutes but that went over an hour. I was really confident I'd get the job, but then... crickets. No follow-up after the three rounds until two weeks later when I received a one-sentence, system-generated rejection email. It was a pretty bad way to reject someone after they invested nearly five hours into their lengthy interview process.

I was contacted by the HR Director for an initial phone interview while I was on vacation in mid-July. They expressed urgency in filling the position by August 1st and requested an in-person interview, which meant I had to cut my vacation short. The interview took place at their main campus. I met with three individuals: the HR director, the college president, and the chief chef (comparable to a provost). They were all very enthusiastic and reiterated their goal to hire someone by August 1st. Following this, there was a period of silence. I didn't receive any communication, not even a rejection. As August 1st approached, I made several attempts to inquire about the status, but received no response and my calls/messages were not returned. I continued my job search and was hired by another institution in late September. In mid-November, about four and a half months after the interview, I received an email informing me that the position had been filled.

Submitted an application in the fall. Had a phone interview in the spring, was told I would get followup in a few weeks, did not hear anything for two months, and then an interview was scheduled. Completed the working interview, which turned out to be a group interview (4 hours). Was asked to reschedule the rest of the interview- was told I would be brought in the following week. No contact for a month. Completed the final process and was told I would hear within a month- did not hear anything for three months. Was asked to repeat the interview process, and completed the 4 hour process for a second time. Was told the timeline to choose a candidate was a month. Did not hear for two months, and was sent a standard email from the school informing me that they would not be moving forward. No one at any point acknowledged the fact that they consistently did not follow up or ever keep to their timeframe through the process. A heavy time commitment, with very few clear parameters for judging. Several instances of sending follow up emails that were ignored.