Brookings Institution Research Assistant Interview

Interview Details – Applied online at the company's website in mid-Dec. Received an email mid-Jan from the department to schedule a 15min. phone interview with the director of the project and a senior researcher. They apologized for getting back to applicants so late, so normally the process doesn't take that long.

Phone session a couple of days later went well. I was asked why I switched careers to research and how I got interested in their topic area. I spoke about how it impacted my class work and part-time ra job, what my views and understanding of the subject was. Basically, they wanted to confirm that you knew what you were talking about. Two weeks later, received an email from the department to schedule an in person interview with the same pair.

Met at office a week later. Spent half an hour with hr going over my resume, career change, classes, and activity since graduation. It was the most detailed questioning I've had for any job to date. Lots of follow up questions. Surprisingly, there were many about my spouse and what they did. That was strange. She asked if my references were up to date and I said I'd check on an older one and get back to her.

Went on to the director and researcher and talked for an hour and a half about the job, my past experience, and stories about things we had in common. There weren't any hr-type questions and they were direct and straightforward. They asked me to send a writing sample. I thought the interview went well and there was a real rapport. However, they said they were doing two weeks of in person interviews, then at least one more round after that, maybe more.

Sent thank you emails with follow up materials the next day. Didn't hear anything for three weeks. Sent an inquiry to hr. Haven't heard anything since. I've heard that it's normal now for companies not to contact you with the results after an interview, but this was disappointing as they were otherwise professional.

In all, it seems like a wonderful place to work with people who care about what they do. God only knows how many applications they got. Frankly, it’s a job lottery for overqualified candidates. The position only called for a BA and I have two MS’s. Other applicants probably had similar education and more experience.