First Solar Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated May 3, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 12 ratings 
“Average” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 12 ratings
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| 1–10 of 12 First Solar Interviews | Sort by |
Controls Engineer at First Solar
Posted May 3, 2012
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 in Kulim (Malaysia) (took 3 weeks)
1) Background Check
2) Skills Test
3) Group / Panel Interview
4) Personality Test
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Group/Panel Interview, a Skills Test, a Personality Test and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Engineering at First Solar
Posted Feb 3, 2012
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Dec 2010 in Santa Clara, CA (took a day)
First Solar has the most disciplined interviewing process that I have encountered. All employees that interview attend mandatory interviewing training. When an interview is performed, all members of the interview are assigned a topic to focus on certain aspects of the company's core values - ex: "Results Matter", "Continuous Improvement", or "Overall Fit". Interviewers are also given a standard template of questions to help guide them in probing the candidate's experiences and reactions in given situations.
The most difficult part of the interview process is the "Structured Interview" where the candidate's prospective hiring manager delves deeply into the candidate's past work history, asking about their accomplishments, the things that they would do better, the things that their past managers and co-workers would say about them, and their reason for leaving each position.
At the end of the process, this same team meets and evaluates each candidate to determine which one to hire.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
I only negotiated for an extra week of vacation. Standard vacation is two weeks for new hires, but I asked for extra and received three weeks vacation based on my skills and experience.
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Drug Test and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Engineer I at First Solar
Posted Dec 19, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2011 in Perrysburg, OH (took a day)
Initial interview with recruiter, face-to-face meeting with several people, 1 hour each.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Environmental Manager at First Solar
Posted Nov 23, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed May 2010 in Tempe, AZ (took 3 weeks)
Contacted by internal recruiter who briefed me on the job and my qualifications. She immediately followed up with several emails regarding the company and their benefits package. Received another call within 1-2 days for a 1:1 phone interview with the prospective supervisor for the job. Received another call and was asked to come to a face-to-face in AZ (4 hr flight away). The day of the face-to-face, while waiting to be called in for the interview, another person walks in who just happens to be a subordinate of mine at my existing company! We were both incredibily uncomfortable and couldn't find a way to even remotely explain our presence there. Notwithstanding the fact this person had less than 1/4 the years of my experience and it would seem odd we could botjh be deemed "qualified" for the position, why didn't the recruiters try to separate the interviewees, especially if they're both working for the same company. Anyway, after this debacle, I was totally thrown off from the interviewing mindset. Fuirthermore, as if I didn't get the message yet, they said I was really overqualified for the position and one manager even wondered out loud to me "why are you here?" The best question asked of me through the entire process. I left and never heard from them again.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Development Engineer Technician III at First Solar
Posted Apr 25, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Apr 2011 (took 3 days)
Good, professional
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
So wonderful, the offered salary is in my expect
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Background Check, an IQ/Intelligence Test, a Presentation, a Group/Panel Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Financial Systems Analyst at First Solar
Posted Apr 14, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2009 in Tempe, AZ (took 5 days)
I applied through the First Solar website, and was contacted by an internal recruiter. She was very good and thorough, spending an hour and a half asking me questions and getting to know me. She then progressed my application to the hiring manager, who spent an hour with me on another phone interview. Days later, I was invited back for the panel interview.
The panel interview was about seven hours, counting a hosted lunch with the team. Up to the lunch, everything went well. And then, the final interview with two finance managers (both of them women) took a very odd turn. The interrogator on the left was wide awake and asked all the questions, and the scribe on the right would type furiously in her laptop and look bored. At one point, the scribe passing out, and this happened three or four times over the course of an hour and a half. The interrogator ignored her narcoleptic peer, who would rouse from sleep and start typing furiously, and glare at me. I don't know if this was supposed to be a stress interview tactic, but it certainly seemed odd at best, and quite unprofessional.
I heard nothing for weeks, and then checked the website. The hiring manager chose to change the requirements from "Must be willing to train to be the administrator of SAP BPC" to "Must be have SAP BPC experience". I had made it clear from the very beginning, when I interviewed with the recruiter, that I had SAP FI, CO & SRM experience but *no* BPC. This seemed like a real waste of their time and mine. I called the recruiter, who confirmed that the requirements had been changed. She apologized on behalf of the company. The recruiter realized something really weird had happened - and I didn't even tell her about the narcoleptic finance manager.
The End.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Group/Panel Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
View Comments (1)
Inappropriate?
IT at First Solar
Posted Mar 30, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2011 (took 2 weeks)
Brief phone interview with Recruiter. Moved on to a 1:3 phone interview followed by an in person interview with several 1:1 interviews over about 4 hours. The initial recruiter within one hour of leaving my final in person interview that they had talked it over and wanted to extend an offer.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Drug Test, a 1:1 Interview and a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Estimating at First Solar
Posted Sep 14, 2010 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Sep 2010 in Tempe, AZ (took a day)
.5 hr phone interview with in house recruiter. 1 hr phone interview with hiring manager. Interviewed at corporate headquarters for 6 hours. 2 Interviews were structured - meaning skills oriented. Technical competencies etc. Balance were behavioral in nature. Testing/measuring personality fit.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Systems Analyst at First Solar
Posted Aug 7, 2010 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Dec 2008 in Tempe, AZ (took 4 weeks)
The interview process consisted of three rounds. A phone interview with the recruiter, a phone interview with the hiring manager, and an all day on site interview with several managers, potential teammates, HR, and marketing. The interview style was very behavioral including questions like, tell me about a time when you very flexible, and then they would ask the inverse of that, tell me about a time when you were inflexible. I didn't get an offer, and found later they hired a former direct report of the hiring manager, which was a little frustrating since the process took up so much time and energy. Very much a boys club, all the interviewers were men including HR and marketing.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Intern at First Solar
Posted May 18, 2010
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2009 in Perrysburg, OH (took 1+ week)
Was pretty simple for the internship positions. Asked basic questions about diversity and working in teams and in groups. Very big on why communication is important!!
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
There was no need for me to negotiate. They pay their interns very well!!
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Background Check, a Drug Test, a 1:1 Interview and a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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