The Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago) Interview Questions
& Process

We were a group of about 10 people for an audition. We did a few different activities. First, in groups of 2-3, we had a couple of minutes to create a commercial for a made-up product. We also completed written questionnaires about how we'd handle specific situations. We watched a current facilitator give a presentation. Then, we were given props and some facts to use in a presentation for the panel, pretending they were guests. It was actually quite fun and not a formal interview.

I was invited for a group interview with multiple other candidates. The interview took place over multiple hours and involved multiple tasks including: working as a group to solve a puzzle, watching a demonstration of another Facilitator's presentation and giving feedback, taking a brief tour of the facility, giving a demonstration of a live science lesson, and answering some more typical interview questions with the other members of the group. The interview took about two hours. After the interview we were allowed to explore the museum as guests for the rest of the day, and covered parking in the museum lot was provided for free. The interview was interesting and engaging, but the communication afterwards was disappointing. I sent a thank you follow-up email the same day and did not hear back about a decision. A week later I followed up again with the museum, no response. A week after that (two weeks after my interview) I received an email to state that they did not have an update for me but they would reach out again as soon as they did. I did not hear again from them after that email. I understand that sometimes it's not feasible to reach out to every applicant for a position, but it's disappointing for a company to bring in candidates for such an extensive, hands-on, and time consuming interview process only to string on, and then essentially ghost them.

It was a pretty fast process, a few weeks after I sent my resume and cover letter, I got a call to see if I was still interested. I was, so we set up interviews with HR and the department I was applying to. It turned out to be more than I thought because they interviewed two groups of four in a panel. I hadn't asked who would be interviewing me, or if I'd be interviewing with others, so that was a surprise. I had individual interviews with HR while the other three candidates waited in a conference room. Just when that got awkward, we all moved to a presentation room for a panel interview with all four of us answering questions quickly on stage. After that, I had another individual interview with the department members who were running the panel. The weirdest part? Doing some improv exercises right before the rapid-fire questions. Not what I expected, but not the worst interview ever, maybe the weirdest.

After getting through the initial phone screen, the recruiter kept me in the loop about what was next. I then met with the VP of HR at a coffee shop, which was a good way to swap ideas and ease any nerves you might get in a formal interview with an executive. After that, I interviewed with the team, and they asked a lot of questions. They were really nice, but clearly knew their stuff. The last interview was with the VP, and the whole thing wrapped up in under two weeks. I got a call to go over the interview process, and then got the offer.