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NUF Semi-Finals Interview

When I first applied to National Urban Fellows, I searched the internet far and wide, trying to gain some insight on what the semi-finals process would be like. I came across one blog (forever Jung) and she discussed her interview process. Her post was a life-saver, because I had no clue what the structure would be like. 

 For the first time in NUF history, they decided to have regional semi-finals instead of flying everyone to New York. I believe they had interviews in Los Angeles for the West coast folks (I lucked out because I live in LA), Chicago for the Midwest, and New York for the East coast. There were only 5 people (including myself) selected for the West coast interviews. Below is the breakdown of our interview process which was held on Monday, March 10, 2014.
  • Ice Breaker: 60 second personal presentation to the judges panel and the other semi-finalists about a item of personal significance to your professional development.
    • I chose my AmeriCorps lapel pin as my item of significance and talked for exactly 60 seconds. Everyone else in my group went over their designated time.
  • Fish Bowl Exercise: A case study which you will be asked to read and discuss as a group in front of the judges panel  for about 30 minutes.
    • After reading the case study, each participant had to choose a character to portray and our objective was to determine how to allocate a specific amount of school funds to several departments. We had a great discussion, but missed the objective and failed the case study (but it was fun).
  • Informational Interview: Each candidate will spend approximately 20 minutes with the judges panel.
    • I was really excited about this portion of the interview. Up until this point, all of the interactions we had with the judges (who were NUF Alumni) had been in a group setting. I personally did not think my interview went well, but I was myself and I tried to be as candid and sincere as possible. 
  • Math and Stat Assessment: 55 minutes of quantitative reasoning.  35 math questions = 40 minutes, 6 statistics questions = 15 minutes.
    • This portion of the interview is what I feared the most because math was never my strong suit. However, we had the opportunity to use calculators! (thank goodness) Also, the quantitative reasoning section was multiple choice. I'm not sure what I scored on it, but I felt confident about my answers for some odd reason. Having never taken a stats course in my life, the stats section intimidated me just a bit, but I forged ahead and submitted my answers to the best of my knowledge (sorry folks, no multiple choice in this section). 
  • Written Assessment: 40 minutes of blue-book writing concerning a case study.
    • I thought this section would be a breeze, but this portion kicked my butt and I walked out of the interview feeling completely defeated. The case study was long...about four pages, single-spaced. I spent approximately 25 minutes just reading it. It was very detailed and even though we only had to answer two questions, I got flustered (It brought back some repressed GRE writing exam memories). I was not confident in anything that I wrote and had writers block...I only filled up three pages in my blue-book while everyone else had six or more pages. I turned in my materials, thanked  the judges and walked back to the train station so I could go home and start playing "the waiting game" to see if I would be selected. 
The overall semi-final interview process was intense, but I had a great time (despite feeling defeated by the written assessment). I would like to offer a bit of advice to potential fellows who make it to this phase in the selection process: 
  1. Brush up on your basic arithmetic - perusing a GRE book a couple of weeks before your interview will be beneficial 
  2. Eat before your interview -  We were told that lunch would be provided, so I did not eat before getting there. Due to time constraints, we did not have a lunch break and I was famished to the point of almost passing out by the time the interview was over (don't be crazy like me - please eat something). 
  3. Reach Out  to NUF Alumni - Alumni are more than happy to discuss their experience with you and will offer you a few words of wisdom about the program and the process.
  4. Be Yourself! - Do not lie to the judges and tell them what you think they want to hear. Be truthful, be open, be honest, and remember that you are awesome, and they would be lucky to have you. 









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