University of Colorado Boulder Executive Assistant Interview Questions
& Process

My interview experience with CU Boulder was disappointing and unprofessional. It started with a HireVue AI recording and an excessive demand for references. Even though I never met or spoke to the team, I was flown out for a final interview. I faced conflicting interview times, and the team seemed disinterested, asking some questions that the AI recording already covered. The hiring manager marked up my resume and cover letter like grading a paper and often lost her train of thought. She also complained about the previous person in the role for something that could have been fixed with simple communication. It seemed like they were just going through the motions because they already had someone in mind. This was after I took a day off work to travel over 8 hours for the interview. After the interview, I got no reply from the hiring manager to my thank-you note and had to chase them up over two weeks later to find out from HR that I didn't get the job. If this is how they treat candidates, I'm glad I don't have to work there.

I applied in December, and although I passed the assessments, I was put in a general applicant pool. I didn't hear back about this specific role until April, when I had a phone interview. The interviewer, who is now my boss, and I really clicked. We then scheduled an in-person interview for May. I met with my current supervisor, the person whose job I was going to fill, and the building proctor. I really liked everyone I interviewed with, which made accepting the job offer easy. They mentioned that if I was a top candidate, my references would be contacted. By the end of May, I received and accepted the offer. I gave my two weeks' notice and started in June. My boss did a great job selecting me and my co-worker based on our skills and how well we'd work together.

The hiring process at the university is really long and can take a while. You start by applying online, and if your resume looks good, they'll let you know. After that, there's a general test for administrative duties, which is only offered on one specific date and time that you have to make. If you get a good score on that, you might get picked for a phone interview. If you pass the phone interview, you'll usually have a physical interview with a committee, or sometimes just with the people you'll be working for. For this particular job, since I was already working at the university, I just interviewed with the people who would hire me. Then, you just wait, and the whole thing can take months to finish. They ask pretty standard questions, so just be ready for a long wait and a lengthy interview process.