New York City Department of Health Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Have interviewed here several times, every time the interview are very traditional. Always going off a sheet of paper and questions like "have you ever had a time where you had an issue with an employee, what did you do" type questions...

Reason for Declining – Offer was not as high as expected

Interview Details – I was coming from an unusual background, yet I felt that I addressed how I would be a great fit for the position in my application package. Still the phone interview mainly went over the stated requirements for the position and how I met (or did not in my case) those requirements. It was rather difficult to steer the conversation into how my skills can allow me to contribute and be successful.
To give an example, the question would be stated as, "Have you spent one year at job using Excel for economic modeling?"
My answer would be, "No, but I have a built and published a comprehensive economic model for my graduate thesis work!".
"That is great, but you have you spent one year at job using Excel?"
As a result, I was on the defensive through the whole interview (about an hour) and I did not feel I came across well.

Interview Details – I have applied to several research or data management positions at NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene. Usually I am contacted between 1 to 2 months from applying. The interviews are pretty simple, basic questions. If you make under the salary range posted they will start you at the minimum. Obviously, I have not yet to receive an actual job offer after interviewing for 5 different positions within 4 different departments. I'm pretty much over with applying here for now. Seems like they just interview just to meet their quota. Usually someone already has the job internally.

The culture is pretty much political.. who knows who will help you but can also hurt you.

Interview Details – I started here as an intern, at the Primary Care Information Project. The project is subsidizing electronic health records for doctors who serve low income patients. I was referred by someone who works in the company (high level management) and the interview process was very low-key and easy. They were very adamant about making sure i was in position that maximized the use of my talents.

Interview Details – Decided I was not interested in the job. Interview included one on one interviews with three to four staff, and a panel interview with three staff members. Could have been more clear about day to day operations. Could have been much more clear about desired background.

Interview Details – I applied for this position on NYC DOHMH website in April. I did not get a call back until June. The person I was in contact with wanted me to fax my transcripts to the office to see if I qualified for the position since one needed 30 credits in the sciences and a Bachelors degree. In July, I left the country and when I came back in September, I continued the process with the personnel who contacted me in June. I also had to fax my transcripts again since they lost it.

They finally scheduled me for my interview which took place around the middle of October. I had to bring my resume. They did not tell me to bring my transcripts but I brought them anyway, which was great because they needed to make copies of it. I also had to do a writing sample. The interview was a bit nerve-wracking but I managed to express myself clearly. The offices were very busy and laid back. I did not think it was very professional but the office where I actually had my interview, was more professional and I had a good idea of what Sanitarians did while they were not in the field.They told me I would know if I was hired in a week. A week came and went and I received no phone call or email. I called/emailed for the next month.

On November 24, I finally received an email that stated I was a potential candidate for the position. I was to make an appointment for my Medical and Processing which I did for the first week in December. I had to do many things for this: Fill out about 40 pages worth of my information (forms), bring in a fingerprinting fee of $94.25, my original Bachelors degree, transcripts, Social Security card, Drivers license, proof of residency (which had to be dated within the past 60 days, I brought in a W2 form and a bank statement), passport, and updated resume.

The first step was medical where I received my flu vaccine, ppd skin test, urine test, blood work, eye test and physical. Right after, I went to another location (a 10 min train ride away) to do processing. They checked my paper work, fingerprinted me and made copies of the originals I mentioned above. At this time, they told us that we had an hour to go to another location (less than 10 minute walk) to do a drug test. Medical, processing and the drug test took almost 5 hours to complete. I went back two days later to get my ppd read.

Right now, I am waiting for someone to tell me when my start date is which I heard during my interview that it may be in January.
Advice to future applicants: Start the process very early and have lots of patience. They are very slow and they will lose your papers. Always have extra copies of resumes/transcripts.

Interview Details – I applied for three research positions (in three different departments). The interview process depends on the department you are applying to, some departments are more organized and efficient than others. After applying online, I was contacted within two weeks of applying. For two of the positions, I had a phone interview first and then a one-on-one interview. After that, I was called in for a panel interview. The other position was just one panel interview. For one of the positions, I received timely notice of job status after applying/interviewing (whole process took 4 weeks). For another position, the interviewer (hiring manager and person I would report to), showed up 30 mins late, seemed uncertain about whether and how the position would be filled, and kept requiring me to submit work samples. The correspondence was horrible too - it took forever to get a reply to my questions/updates. When I finally got a reply, I told was they wanted me to come in for a panel interview. After I sent my availability, I never heard back so I stopped corresponding at that point - it was too disorganized for me (this process took 3 months). The last position I applied for, after the panel interview, I had to follow-up with them regarding my application status since I never heard from them after the panel interview. It was a typical interview - describe your experience, which they'll ask you questions about.

Interview Details – Many many useless interviews. Try to figure out some position on a debate / political slant the group has and speak to it (they're against electronic med records in research, they're for electronic med records).

Negotiation Details – They pretend they can't negotiate but they can.

Interview Details – 1. Applied online
2. Received phone to come in for interview (reseached department and initiatives)
3. Interviewed 1:1
4. Recieved new hire paperwork in the mail & scheduled appt to hand-in paperwork
5. Submitted paperwork, fingerprinted and took a typing test
6. Recieved start date
Total process took 6 months

Negotiation Details – There is room for negotiation depending on the salary range of the positions civil service title.