UCSF Health Executive Assistant Interview Questions
& Process

I was called for a phone interview and we agreed to speak at 2 p.m. that day. The woman interviewing me said they chose 10 people for a phone interview from 400 applications and would narrow it down to 3 finalists. She asked me about the environment I thrive in. I said I thrive everywhere I go which did not satisfy her. She then asked what kind of people I work well with and I said that I don't have pre-determined ideas about who I can work with or who I can't...that I take people as they are. She said that she just wants to make sure the person they hire will work well with the various personalities there. So I said that is a hard thing to judge in a phone interview. So she then asked what is my work philosophy. I said I wasn't sure I understood what she meant by that. She repeated the question and so I told her about a poem I read recently about work, about hands, heart and mind all working in unity....and that I put my heart into every job I do. She asked if I had questions and I asked what she was looking for in the phone interview that would lead her to choose the finalists and she said she that just by talking to people, she could get a "feel" for who were the best candidates (totally subjective I thought). So she wrapped things up and I said well am I going to be one of the finalists? She said she didn't know, that she had to talk to the others first and I should wait. I asked her what she thought my chances were and she was noncommittal and offered no reassurance which made it obvious that I would not hear from her again.

I had an in-person interview that was pretty easy. We talked about my healthcare background and some possible patient experience situations. They wanted to see how I'd deal with different, tough patient care and health care scenarios.

The interview process was pretty standard. First, I had to take a personality and an IQ test, which you need to pass. They also do a background and drug screening. Once all of that is cleared, there's a panel interview. If you get through all those steps, they'll give you a start date and tell you how to get your badges and stuff for orientation.