Recruiting Process

At College Board, we strive to provide a smooth, evidence-based recruitment and interview process for all candidates

Cultivating Exceptional Talent

Driven by mission, guided by evidence, and rooted in excellence—we attract and hire extraordinary talent to power impact at scale. Our backgrounds are varied and vibrant; we’ve worked as educators, community leaders, technologists, consultants, researchers, psychometricians, for-profit professionals, and more. Our hiring practices help us identify individuals who are both outcomes-driven and deeply committed to expanding opportunity for all students.

Overview of the Interview Process

We follow an evidence-driven and structured interview process to enable hiring teams to make data-informed decisions. We ground our interviews in assessing for the most important knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for success in the role.

Recruiter Phone or Video Screen

25-45 min

In this screen, the recruiter will learn more about your past experiences and skillset aligned to the job as well as go over the role in more detail and talk through your initial salary expectations.

Hiring Manager Interview

45-60 min

During this interview, the hiring manager will ask questions related to the role's hiring criteria and answer your questions about the role.

Interview Exercise

2-4 hours

After the hiring manager interview, a small group of candidates will be invited to complete an interview exercise, followed by a panel interview(s). The exercise focuses on assessing the most important skills for the role and gives candidates a chance to experience the type of work they would be doing in the role.  You may be asked to submit work samples from prior roles.

Panel Interview and Meeting Leadership

1-3 hours

The panel interview is an opportunity for candidates to meet two to four staff members with whom they may work if they join College Board. During this interview, the team will ask questions related to the candidate exercise, as well as previous experiences related to the role. For technical interviews, candidates may engage in a live coding or paired programming challenge, code review, whiteboard session, or similar activity. Finalists may be asked to meet with additional leadership.

Reference Checks, Salary Analysis, and Offer

You will be asked to provide four professional references if you are a finalist. We use CrossChq to conduct our reference checks. We ask for 3-4 references minimum, one of which must be a prior manager. Our compensation team works hard to generate salary offers that are strong and equitable. If you receive an offer, you will receive a salary quote and detailed information about our benefits

How to Prepare for an Interview at College Board

Read About The College Board

Look at our website and familiarize yourself with our organization. We are mission-driven and are looking for staff members who are passionate about connecting students to opportunities! 

Review The Job Description

We recommend reviewing the job description before your recruiter screen and before each interview. Be especially attentive to the qualifications and skills required for the role, as your interviewer is likely to ask questions about those criteria. 

Review Your Resume

Be ready to talk about previous experiences, using the STARR method: 

Situation: Describe the situation. 
Task: Describe the task you were trying to accomplish.  
Action: Talk about the specific steps you took in an effort to accomplish the task. 
Result: Explain the result.  
Reflection: Share your reflections about your performance. 

Ask Questions

You will have an opportunity to ask questions at the end of your interviews. Come ready with a list. 

Test Your Technology

We use Microsoft Teams to conduct virtual interviews. Ensure that you log in 5 minutes early to mitigate any technical issues. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn More