I applied through other source. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Seattle Girls' School (Seattle, WA) in Mar 2016
Interview
This was without a doubt the worst recruitment/interview process I have ever had the misfortune to experience. The process dragged on for weeks on end, and there was no communication or transparency about the process on the part of the school while it was going on.
After submitting my resume, I was contacted to schedule a phone screen, and then not called at the appointed time; I was scheduled for a panel interview to which a key member of the hiring team was not invited, which resulted in additional delays in the process; and weeks would go by in between interviews during which I would receive no communication whatsoever about the status of their search and my candidacy. I wrote the job off more than once during the process just because of the sheer amount of time that was elapsing with no communication from them, leading me to think that I was no longer under consideration and that I was not going to get the courtesy of a notification from them.
But it did not end there. When, after weeks of delays and silence from the school, I was finally asked to provide my references, the school executive running the search contacted two of those references via email asking to schedule telephone calls with them. They responded promptly to provide him with their availability, as requested -- and never heard from him again. They even attempted, more than once, to follow up with him to get a call scheduled, and never got a response of any kind. When I learned about this, I apologized profusely to both of them and told them that they did not need to keep trying to reach him.
I eventually got an email from the executive informing me that the school had offered the job to someone else. By this point I was surprised that he even bothered to notify me.
I've gone through some unpleasant interview processes, but this one was just spectacularly bad. The worst part was that they contacted my references apparently with no intention of ever actually speaking with them. It was quite embarrassing to be placed in the position of having to apologize to professional colleagues for having been put to the trouble of trying to provide me with a reference, to no avail.
If I could offer advice to this and other nonprofit employers, it would be this: They should not lose sight of the fact that when someone is interested enough in their organization to apply for a job, they are very likely either a current, or a prospective, supporter/advocate/donor. Most nonprofits live and die by community support and donations; when they treat their candidates badly, they are throwing away goodwill that they quite likely can't really afford to lose. My references and I have come away from this experience with a negative opinion of this organization and its leadership. It's really too bad, and it was completely avoidable. I didn't even need to be offered the job to have come away from this process with a positive opinion of Seattle Girls' School; I just needed to be treated with a little professional courtesy and respect. It would have cost them very little to do that.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The interviews consisted of fairly routine/standard questions about my skills, background and experience.