Interview with department representative and the Executive Director. For my in person interview, I was asked to review a 30 page grant RFP and prepare a 1-2 page executive summary of the grant application. There were some tough questions and at times felt intense, but generally the atmosphere was casual and comfortable. My sense (only from the interview) is that the work environment and management might be pretty demanding. For low pay. At this level of position and after an in-person interview, I was surprised to get my rejection notification from an admin - I felt it would have been more appropriate, and respectful, for the individual parties who emailed me originally to let me know. The development world is small in San Diego so I was surprised by this choice of messaging tactic. Still it was a good experience overall and I'm glad I went through the interview process.

I did a phone screen interview with Jimmy Ozaeta, Senior VP of Mission Advancement at YMCA - Metropolitan Los Angeles. During the call, Mr. Ozaeta told me the actual max salary was lower than what was listed on the job description. The job description listed a salary of $75K-$85K but Mr. Ozaeta stated they would not go above $80K. If that was the case, why did they list $85K on the job description? That $5K makes a difference. I wouldn't have wasted my time on an application had I known that. I found that to be misleading and unethical. I also got the sense he was deliberately leaving no room for negotiation at the offer stage. Also, I came to find out that YMCA doesn't offer any retirement benefits your first two years of working there. They offer a 10% match only after two years of employment.