I applied online. The process took 8 months. I interviewed at Open Society Foundations in Apr 2012
Interview
There were random questions at times and it was a long interview but very detailed and interesting. The panel consisted of programmatic staff as well as an HR representative. I was given a written task before the second interview. I found the second interview very intense but also more friendly and less formal. HR took their time in responding afterwards (at least a month).
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why this job? Match between the job ad and your experience? Ability to travel?
I applied online. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Open Society Foundations (New York, NY) in Jul 2014
Interview
This interview process was unlike any other I have been through before. 4+ weeks after submitting my application online (I found the posting via their website), someone from HR finally got back to me. I went through 3 interviews for the position of Program Assistant, and when I was waiting to hear back, an HR recruiter called me and asked me to interview for a Program Associate position which I had not applied for, explaining to me that they often did this: looked at their wider pool of candidates and tried to see which skills could be transferable.
I went through two rounds of interviews for their Program Associate position, each with 3 people present during the interview. I also had to send them a first draft (unfinished) writing sample, and complete a writing assignment before I was offered the position. They also got in contact with all 3 references that I provided.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Apart from the usual questions about experience, I found that in all my OSF, they asked alot of behavioural and professional development questions so be prepared for that.
Examples:
- What role do you play in a group?
- Give an example of a time you worked with a difficult colleague
- What do you hope to learn from this position and your colleagues?
- What motivates you?
- What areas do you hope to develop professionally in the future?
- Can you speak about a time when you had to challenge authority?
- What managerial style do you work best under?
- What are some things that you continue to struggle with?
- How would your current supervisor describe you, strengths and weaknesses?