Aug
29
A job interview with a committee is very common with non-profits.
Joanne Fritz from About.com’s Nonprofit Charitable Orgs posted a great blog about her experiences interviewing between non-profit organizations and for-profit companies. One of the differences she noticed:
Whenever I interviewed for a for-profit job, I usually interviewed with one person at a time, although I could end up talking with up to three people eventually. Sometimes I had an interview with the human resource person for an initial screening, then with the person to whom I would report, and, finally, sometimes with the department head or even the head of the company if it was a rather small one. On the other hand, the first job interview I did with a nonprofit, which was a college, I found myself facing the “search committee.” That was pretty scary and very different. I had to impress several people and take questions that cut across multiple subject areas.
When I interviewed for my position at a non-profit society, I also faced a committee which included a department member and two managers. I was then asked for a second interview with the director of finance and deputy executive director. I didn’t find either of them excruciatingly difficult or intimidating, but I think a lot of that had to do with the office culture and the friendly, close work relationships between the interviewers. During the first interview, for example, they asked me if I could handle working with a “bunch of grandmas.” (Everyone in my department is basically planning or are on the brink of retirement.) The style of the interview and number of interviewers is definitely a factor, but office culture is a factor worth considering, as well.