Western Carolina University Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process involved an initial stage which took place about two months before an on-campus interview. I liked the supportive and collaborative environment within the Engineering department, and it aligned well with my interests. However, I declined their offer. The reasons were: the housing market is expensive and scarce, finding good schools for children can be a challenge, and the offer didn't meet my expectations given my profile and experience. They seem to benchmark new hires against current faculty, which limits salary offers for experienced candidates. For recent graduates, however, they offer good support. It was disappointing to turn down the offer after such a lengthy process.

It was a standard 2-day faculty interview. Day 1 included dinner with the committee, interviews throughout the day, and research/teaching talks, plus meetings with HR. I met with students too. Day 3 was with higher-ups who grilled me and didn't answer my questions well. Everyone was polite, but some answers were vague or missing, like salary info. They suggested limited research start-up funds (a few thousand) and no lab facilities. However, internal funding for research expenses seems good, with $5-10k grants being easy to get annually. Sabbaticals aren't offered in NC universities; there's an alternate option but it's often rejected. Family health care costs about $6500/year from salary. Raises for promotion are flat rates around $4000 and $6000. Most people seem to get tenure. The program culture felt healthy, with a strong focus on student well-being. They didn't follow up for 2 months; I asked the search chair and got a canned rejection from HR. I asked the search chair for feedback, but they said higher-ups make decisions and they have no feedback to give, so it wasn't a growth experience.

Had a 15 minute phone chat first to get set up for a 30 minute zoom meeting. The zoom was with the director and 8 other staff members. It felt pretty intimidating having that many people there for the first interview, especially since it was my first job interview after grad school and I wasn't really sure what to expect. They went around and asked everyone questions. It was super professional but they felt really cold. I could tell they were writing down everything I said and they weren't very friendly, probably to cut down on bias. The interview itself wasn't hard, but it was really uncomfortable and made me anxious. I didn't make it to the next stage.

The interview process involved meeting with about two to four people. They asked questions mainly about leadership and skills. The interviewers are leaders in the university, and they were really nice, which helped with the stress. Some other resident assistants were also there listening in.