Vera Institute Of Justice Interview Questions
& Process

The process started with HR screening, then an interview with the Initiative Director. After that, there was an assignment, followed by an in-person presentation and interview with five staff members from different parts of the organization. The coordination of these steps was really disorganized, and the poor communication from HR almost made me withdraw. HR made mistakes at every stage, requiring me to clarify things, and once an interview was canceled just 30 minutes beforehand. It was shocking for such a respected organization and made me worry about bigger issues. I'm glad I stayed, as it seems these problems were limited to HR. Still, it was a confusing and stressful experience.

Started with an initial 45 minute call with an in house HR specialist, followed by a meeting with the initiative director and VP of research initiatives. The third part was a take home exercise that I had 5 days to complete, which was then followed by a panel presentation and structured interview with 5 research team members across the organization. The final step was a 1:1 with the VP of Research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.

I got an email from HR on March 29 asking for my availability the next week for a phone interview. I replied quickly, but then didn't hear back until April 17, when they said my email got lost. We had the phone interview on April 18. The recruiter was great, really selling the company, and after about an hour, she said I'd be moving on to a video interview with two program staff. She also mentioned there would be at least two more interviews after that, plus a take-home data analysis assignment that I'd have to present. I'm hesitant about doing unpaid work, especially since I have a PhD and publications in this field, and I'm not willing to put in that much effort if they're going to ghost me again. If they don't trust my abilities based on my record, they can find someone else.

The interview process was a mess, unorganized and disrespectful. I got to the final assignment stage but withdrew due to poor communication and unreasonable requests. The first two interviews with department leads were fine. HR was good, but scheduling was handled by two people on the program team, leading to inaccurate times and missed interviews. I was told I'd get a 5-day assignment, but received it 4 days late with only 12 hours to complete a policy brief and comms strategy, with no extension. This was frustrating given the originally communicated timeframe and the fact that candidates might be working full-time or have family obligations. There was also a major miscommunication about the job location, only revealed at the final stage, requiring relocation. It felt like a lack of consideration for my time.