Cambridge Associates, LLC Junior Research Associate Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Multiple rounds of interviews

First round was an initial phone screening. Lasted less than half an hour with questions about resume and basic behavioral questions. A few days later, I got a call to come in for the Open House interview round.

Open house interview round with multiple candidates together for a round robbin interview. The round started off with a presentation given by current or former Junior Associates to give a background of the company and position. Lasted about 45 minutes. After that was a round of two interviews, one with a manager and one with HR. The manager interviewer didn't seem too personable, and it was a bit difficult getting good back and forth discussion with him. Both interviewers asked the "what is your weakness" question. The answer would be brought up in later interviews.

Round after that was about a two hour interview process. It began with additional overview of the position and showing the system that would be used to track information. After that was a round table discussion with three employees working in the position being interviewed for to give an "employee" view of what you would be doing. Then there was a "practical" component that required writing an email based on a list of information needed to be gathered. It ended with an in-person interview with the manager of the group they were considering you for. For me, it was the same manager from the Open House.

Did not enjoy the manager interview. The manager was abrasive and seemed over-confident in his abilities. He seemed to treat the position like grunt work but expected a high level of intelligence/capability, mostly trying to prod at any response that he didn't think was good enough. The majority of the time, it felt more like an inquisition than an interview. A few questions bordered on inappropriate, asking about my emotional state (because his abrasive personality got me a bit flustered) and questioning work ethic (I was essentially told I didn't have an appropriate work ethic because I wasn't a college athlete and didn't work two jobs in college to support myself).

Overall the interview process was good except for the time spent with the manager I would be working under. Had I not interviewed with him, I probably would have wanted the job. I accepted a job at another company before hearing back about the interview, although I would not have accepted had it been offered.