EchoStar Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Saw an ad in the newspaper. There was a open house interview date. At the open house an application form was filled. Followed immediately by a panel interview and a one on one interview.

A technical talk on past projects. A discussion on interest in working on linux platforms. The match was for a embedded engineer therefore ability to work with both hardware and software was discussed.

Following the Job offer mandatory criminal and drug tests are conducted.

Negotiation Details – No not really. Salary is below average

Interview Details – Received call from recruiter asking very broad questions about my experience, reasons for applying and salary requirements. Recruiter was very friendly and explained a bit about posted qualifications and what job duties would be.
A few days later received call from a manager and set up a phone interview. Phone interview started with manager asking me to tell him about my life. Manager then asked me to ask questions. I asked manager to talk about who the Echostar Gilbert, AZ facility provides services to and how the uplink services business fits into the Echostar group of companies. I did not get answer to these questions. All I heard about was how Echostar is in business to make money and that only the big company investors should be concerned with this info. I was also told that I was asking questions to only find out what Echostar can do for me. It only went downhill from here. I was asked my nationality, if I was a natural born citizen and where I grew up. Answered these questions and I asked relevance of questions and was given a reply that just because I may not fit into position I was being interviewed for that did not mean I may not fit into other positions at Echostar. Was only asked one technical question the entire interview that lasted about 20 minutes. Seems to me that Echostar does not train their managers on proper interview questions or on how to present the company to potential candidates. Maybe this was just a bad apple manager in the Echostar company tree or it could be the norm based on reviews I found by Echostar employees and former employees on this web site and others. Do your research and weigh the good and bad info you find about Echostar before considering applying for Echostar. After I applied for the Engineering Technician position I did some research and the bad outweighed the good. This was confirmed by this horrible interview experience.

Interview Details – I had applied for a multiple Senior Business Analyst openings. The phone inter view was with the IT Recruiter who asked me some Business Analyst question and then I was told that I would have my resume forwarded to multiple hiring managers. At the end of the phone interview I discussed the salary range and the IT Recruiter specifically asked me if the range for Sr BA would work. It was within the market range and I agreed.
I had to complete some skills and Intelligence testing online after my talk with the recruiter. I got a call two weeks later for a on-site interview with two Managers. I had to complete another Test before the interview. I completed the interview and I was offered the position by one of the manager within an hour. I got the call when I arrived home.
Next I had to complete a Drug test and did not hear back for about two weeks. I knew the IT Recruiter was preganent and thus expected some delay. I got a call back with the news that another IT Recruiter was talking over my hiring process. The new IT Recruiter asked to fill out my salary history which I had left blank.
I was offered the position of Program Manager after 5 weeks.

Reason for Declining – I was offered a salary which not even close to the market value. I mean they were off by a mile. I was shocked. I asked what was the reason behind the salary reduction from the original conversation and the answer was that I would be paid based on my last salary. I explained that they were not hiring my last salary but rather my experience. I asked that I be hired based on critical goals within time lines so I could get to the market value; to prove my worth.
 I had three interviews going and I decided not to go with Echostar. I figured if I could not trust them with their word on my first experience I did not want more of the same. It was great learning experience and I guess I am qualified for to be a Program Manager.

Interview Details – the first part of the interview is really the application on the first day. they weave in an intelligence and personality test along with the application process. After you finish the aplication process you select a date to return and do the one on one interviews. This interview is more like a 4-on-1, meaning that they have two people interview you and an employee with a trainee that do a "random" drug test. in otherwords if you look like your still in college there going to drug test you. The first person that interviewed me gave me the vibe that a principle or grandparent gives you when you broke a rule, that kind of looking down thier nose at you in displeasure with a very condicending tone in her voice. The second interviewer josh was really cool, but you could tell he hated his job and didn't care to do above the minimum required of him. after playing phone tag with josh for about a week, I finally gave up on trying to reach them by phone and just went back to the application office to sit down with him face to face. he gave me a pen and paper and told me tow write down a few dates, times, and supplies that I was going to need for the four week training period that is mandatory for all new employees. overall I felt pretty comfortable at the interview except for the fact that I war the only one interviewing that day in jeans, but they still called me back anyways. I didn't really try that hard during either the interview or the application tests, which suggests to me that echostar/Dish Network doesn't really try all that hard either.

Negotiation Details – their was no negotiation period in my application or interview, everything was pretty much spelled out for me. I also gathered that the same could be said from the work done in this position, which I was briefly familierized with during the application process.

Interview Details – Posted online job application and HR contact me by telephone about ten days later, conducting a single telephone interview consisting of hypothetical questions about how I would handle certain situations. During the topic of compensation I discovered that this employer's pay is about %25 below other employers in the same sector, although the individual who interviewed me claimed that job security is above average.

Interview Details – I met them at a job fair. Scheduled an interview. Interview went great and I was sent off for a basic skills test and then a drug test. 2 weeks or so later I was called and offered the position. Initially everyone seemed very nice and cordial. They gave me a tour of the facility which was very impressive.

Reason for Declining – I eventually declined them because there were not willing to budge on the schedule. In all fairness to them I did know about the positions schedule but didn't realize how strict they were in adhering to it.
I have since been blacklisted from that company as no one from HR returns my emails or calls regarding other positions that they have posted.

Interview Details – It was a 30-minute on-campus interview after talking in a college career fair. 2 people from the company interviewed me, and I got to talk about the experience from research and class projects.

Interview Details – It was a pretty standard interview - they ask for a lot of specific examples. Things like specific examples of a problem you encountered and how you solved it, how you get along with people at work, an example of when you've been frustrated (I think over the phone) and how you reacted to the situation. You also have to take a knowledge and personality test before applying and a skills test before the interview.

Interview Details – Phone interview for 40 minutes, online IQ/behavior test a few days later. On-site interview for 4 hours a month later. Met with 2 managers and 2 engineers. Asked about C, Linux, Satcom. They showed me some C programs and asked me what was wrong with it, and then written C test. The managers and engineers seem nice to work with. HR is unreasonable. Got the offer the next day. The whole recruiting process looks like they are doing me a favor to make me work there.

Reason for Declining – This company is cheap even on little things. The recruiter is not willing to make any concessions. Offer is below par. Health insurance is extremely bad. No sign-on and relocation is only 3000$ lump-sum.