University of San Diego Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was really disorganized and communication was bad. I had three interviews, one with the department chief. After the second interview, they called my references. The hiring person told me the third interview with the chief was just a meet and greet, but he had the final say. After the third interview, the chief said I was getting the job. I didn't hear back for over two weeks. I contacted her, and she gave me a tentative date to hear back, but then didn't. Almost 3 weeks later, she told me they chose someone else. The whole process was really bad, with poor communication and unnecessary steps like checking my references too early.

I applied online and the portal asked for a lot of detail. About two weeks after applying, I got a phone call about an interview scheduled for the following week. The first interview lasted an hour and was in two parts. Afterwards, I was given contact info for a skills test, which I did the next day. Later that week, I got an email to schedule a second interview with my potential boss, who wasn't available during my first visit. This second interview was brief and direct. My boss confirmed I was a finalist, pending reference checks. Two of my three references were contacted the next week. Then, HR reached out with a conditional offer, dependent on background and education checks, with a start date two weeks out.

You probably won't see this job advertised much on campus, so you'll likely hear about it through friends or people who've worked there before. When you apply, you'll need to include essay questions and two references. You actually sign up for your interview time when you turn in your application, and if you apply, you're pretty much guaranteed an interview. There's one big group interview, which is mandatory unless you have a class conflict. During this, you'll do a bunch of practice customer service scenarios. They also give you a personality test and look at those results. After that, there are two more individual interviews: one with some of the student leaders and another with management. Then, they'll likely do a background check before making an offer.

It's a very informal process, mostly just reaching out to professors for openings. Since the classes are small, professors likely already know you, so they don't need to ask many questions. It really depends on the professor; some are easier to approach than others. If you show interest in joining one of their projects, they might hire you or point you to another professor. The atmosphere is quite relaxed.