I interviewed at CCS Fundraising (Philadelphia, PA)
Interview
Intensive interview process but nice way to meet the executive leadership and other members of the team. There are multiple touchpoints with HR, team leaders, a case study presentation, and an in-person sign-off.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What interests you about client services and consulting?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at CCS Fundraising
Interview
5 Rounds, standard first round interview, writing and presentation sample roleplay. Met with various executives throughout process- more focused on writing and speaking abilities then knowledge of fundraising. Can teach that on job
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Talk about a time you made a mistake and how you learned and adjusted from said problem
The process took 2 months. I interviewed at CCS Fundraising (Washington, DC) in Jul 2023
Interview
First level phone screen. Sometimes it can take a while for them to get back to you. That's a pretty casual conversation but its important to talk about experience, proximity to fundraising, and what your goals are. This is generally done by someone on the operations team who isn't client-facing, but has a deep understanding of the company's activities and relationships across the firm. Really use this to get to know you.
Second interview is more technical and involves presenting a slide deck (given as an assignment after the phone screen). It was over Zoom and involved a panel of people who were client-facing (they actually do the job you're interviewing for) and pretty senior. You talk about yourself and your interests - its important for your interests to align, its important to CCS that people want to be there and see a path to growth. Lots of historical problems with turnover, especially poc. On the presentation, they are mostly making sure that you
1. Generally understand the tone of fundraising (my assignment was to plan a non-profit board retreat and deliver a 5-year revenue growth plan)
2. Can create deliverable documents that are polished, complete, and visually appealing
3. Have basic emotional intelligence and could interact with and present to a new client comfortably
4. Know how to use Excel and Powerpoint
If that goes well, you should be invited to a 1-on-1 interview with an executive that is mostly a formality. The executive will get to know you a bit and talk a lot about the role, mostly making sure you understand what you're getting into and what the culture is like. I'm sure its more of a "culture fit" type of thing. I don't know anybody who dropped in the final interview.
Good luck to everyone!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you stay organized?
What is a difficult situation you have faced with a colleague/client?
Tell me about your fundraising experience and why you are interested in fundraising.
Why a consulting firm?
Associate Director applicants have rated the interview process at CCS Fundraising with 2.9 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 53% positive. To compare, the company-average is 34.7% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Associate Director roles take an average of 65 days to get hired, when considering 17 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at CCS Fundraising overall takes an average of 62 days.
Common stages of the interview process at CCS Fundraising as a Associate Director according to 17 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 30%
One on one interview: 28%
Presentation: 13%
Group panel interview: 10%
Skills test: 8%
Other: 8%
IQ intelligence test: 3%
Background check: 3%
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