Thorn interview questions

I applied online and was invited to schedule a 30-minute phone screen with a recruiter. After selecting a time, I replied to confirm that I was looking forward to speaking on the scheduled date and time. I did not receive a response to that message, which was somewhat unusual in my experience, as most recruiters had acknowledged my interview confirmations. About 20 minutes before the scheduled interview time, I received an email moving the interview two hours later. The message did not include any explanation or confirmation that the new time worked for me. While schedule adjustments certainly happen, a brief note acknowledging the last-minute change or confirming my availability would have been more professional. The new time was 6 p.m. in my time zone, which was somewhat inconvenient, but since I had already spent significant time preparing, I chose to proceed with the interview. During the phone screen itself, the interaction felt more formal and impersonal than what I’ve typically experienced in nonprofit hiring processes. I’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for about a decade, where interviews often feel more conversational and relationship-oriented. In this case, the tone felt more corporate and transactional. I also tend to bring some personality into interviews so the conversation feels natural rather than overly scripted, but the recruiter appeared disengaged and the discussion felt somewhat one-sided. When I asked a few questions about the role, the responses made it seem as though my questions were silly, which caught me off guard. Toward the end of the conversation, the recruiter noted that my experience aligned with the lowest end of the salary band, which left me somewhat confused about why I had been selected for the interview in the first place. The following morning, I sent a standard thank you email but, again, did not receive a reply. A few hours later, I received an automated rejection message. After having spent 30 minutes speaking with the recruiter less than 24 hours before, the automated response felt incredibly impersonal. Overall, the process felt less professional and less engaging than most interview experiences I’ve had. While I ultimately was not selected to move forward, the experience also left me feeling that the organization’s interview approach may not align with the more collaborative, relationship-driven culture that many nonprofit professionals expect.