I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (Redwood City, CA)
Interview
I did two phone screens with other directors and then came for an in-person all day session. The session included a panel presentation with about 12 people in the room and another 10 or so on the phone/video conference. I then had individual 1-1s with multiple folks from lunch until the end of the day.
The interviews themselves were not terrible but several things sent up red flags for me:
- I was asked to do a hypothetical exercise which is fine, however, the setup for the exercise was rather arduous and the interviewer seemed to get flustered when I kept asking for clarification and/or arguing that my assumptions weren't important.
- It became very clear, very quickly that there was a certain "type" they were looking for and I wasn't it. Normally I'd spend time trying to understand what I did or did not do to meet their needs but seeing that the position is still open almost a year after I applied tells me that the issue wasn't with me - it's with them.
- The hiring manager skipped my panel and justified it by saying there was a meeting to discuss salary at the same time with Priscilla and Mark, and well "you can imagine how important it is that I not miss that." He then talked at length about his career/background so I felt as if he wasn't sure who I was.
The panel itself was strange - probably the strangest one I've ever presented on because almost no one made any sort of eye contact. They were all heads down on their laptops and I never even saw full faces on those dialed in - just tops of heads or typing hands. It was truly eerie. Finally, the empty offices ... not just a desk here or there but entire floors with nothing but empty desks and chairs as if the employees had all just vanished. Keep in mind this was late 2019 - I'd expect this now with everyone remote but back then, it told me that something was amiss. After reading other reviews here, it seems apropos.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Make a plan for how you'd run a new project effort - tell me how you'd staff it, how long it would run for, how you would structure it, what sorts of people would you hire/pull from other parts of the organization and then why you'd do it this way.
This is disappointing to read. I am sorry to hear your experience was not more positive. As a new and growing organization, we take this feedback to heart, and will continue to use it to improve.
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