They contacted me quickly after I submitted an application. They showed me to the interview room, handed me this list of questions, and left me alone for about 5 minutes.
I interviewed with the three principal staff members. It was a superb setting to get to know them and to see if I would fit in. And then the questioning began.
As we droned on with the questions, I kept seeking opportunities to move the conversation to center on answering the most relevant question, "What do you need most?" Instead we stuck with the script. Of course they said there'd be time for me to ask questions "at the end" - ugh! At the end, when everyone's worn out and ready to move on? Yes, I had probing questions, yes I had points I wanted to go back to, yes I had curiosity about the organization's future that hadn't been addressed. But all the energy was drained out of the room by the end of the standardized questions. Not a good time to try to start new conversations.
Make no mistake, this is a superb operation, with fantastic staff. This was also my worst experience with interviews that consist of standardized, general questions and "opportunities to ask questions" at the end.
Reading over these questions again, I believe this org and I would have done much better had they asked me to prepare and submit these answers in advance. Then, if they liked my answers, they could have called me in and we could have spent our time together to see if we are a great fit.
