Research Associate applicants have rated the interview process at ICF with 2.6 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 86% positive. To compare, the company-average is 69% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Research Associate roles take an average of 11 days to get hired, when considering 7 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at ICF overall takes an average of 27 days.
Common stages of the interview process at ICF as a Research Associate according to 7 Glassdoor interviews include:
Group panel interview: 26%
Phone interview: 21%
One on one interview: 16%
Background check: 16%
Skills test: 11%
Presentation: 5%
Personality test: 5%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
A panel with several people including the hiring manager and some team members.
The process was well organized, and the recruiter was very responsive and communicated well regarding how many people to expect and how long the interview would last.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us why you are interested in this position
Describe a research work that you have done in the past
What is your experience in evaluation work and USAID funded projects
I applied online. I interviewed at ICF in Mar 2026
Interview
Interviewed with the recruiter who was lovely - very standard recruiter screening. Made it to the second round and interviewed with two people. Towards the beginning they were kind but then got more and more uninterested and disengaged by the end. Never heard back from anyone after the interviews. Very unprofessional and a waste of everyones' time.
I applied online. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at ICF in May 2022
Interview
Took about 3-4 months to get hired. Applied in late March , interviewed in mid May (two interviews, one with people on the team and one with the hiring manager), was offered and accepted the job in mid-July. It did take a bit longer than usual due to the team being shorthanded so I wouldn't forsee the interview process taking this long normally.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you work in team settings? Explain time you had conflict with team member? Five year plan? Some scenario questions
Interview process was relatively straightforward with a series of interviews. Questions were mostly based off experience detailed on resume with a few technical questions regarding energy knowledge. There was a good deal of time to ask people currently in the position about their experience and any questions in general.