Room to Grow interview questions

The process was 9 WEEKS. No that wasn’t a typo. I had a phone screen and then was asked to share my portfolio. This was followed by an interview with the person I would have been reporting to and then a job simulation activity. Afterwards I was asked to schedule a final panel interview with four leaders across the org. Then absolute crickets. The recruiter said people were out of office and that they weren’t looking to make a decision soon. 3 weeks later I got a lame email about how they were re-evaluating what the role would look like. I would have rather been told the truth which was they went with another candidate. Felt like they were just keeping me in the wings in case things didn’t work out with her.

I completed a 3 step/meeting interview process along with a job performance exercise. Overall, there were aspects of the interview process that were very good and some that were not enjoyable. Pros- The CEO was warm and friendly. They asked good questions and integrated what I shared into thoughtful responses, conveying great listening skills. They were overall a very engaged interviewer. So it felt like a dynamic conversation. HR was responsive and transparent throughout the interview process. Cons- My panel interview was lifeless. Some of the panelists weren’t engaged. I was asked to present something during the interview, and twice the CEO and another panelist were laughing simultaneously and clearly chatting offline during my presentation. They seemed distracted. Even though they were muted, it was very rude and disrespectful. Especially as I put in significant time and effort into the performance task. There needed to be more clarity on the expectations for the presentation (eg how much time to present, whether they wanted you to prep something that addressed all of their questions). The performance task was framed to be like a conversation, like you had to be prepared to talk through certain questions but didn’t necessarily need to present it. But during the interview, it was clear that they wanted you to prep a formal presentation that addressed everything they mentioned. There was a month in between interviews, so it was an exceptionally slow interview process. The senior management team’s communication styles were judgmental, superior, and ego-driven. They seemed to lack open mindedness to new ideas and creativity, which is a risk with non-profits where people have been there 10+ years and think their way is the only way. During the interviews, I was sometimes asked questions by SMT that felt judgmental in tone. After I answered it, they proceeded to “correct” my response and cite very specific things they were looking for like “Well it’s about this right? It’s about x.” Open-ended interview questions don’t just have 1 right answer and interviewers shouldn’t really make their candidates feel judged (save it for your debrief afterward). The salary range posted for the role was too wide ($45K) and not trust worthy or transparent.