State of California Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – An application and a subjective written statement were required.

Interview Details – Have had two Accountant Trainee interviews with the State of California's Controller's Office. I was isolated in a room with a computer & printer, and given twenty minutes to generate a response to a question, which I was to verbally present (in 3 minutes) at the onset of the oral portion of the Panel Interview. Clever, I thought. A test of multiple skills - organizational, oral and written communication, computer literacy skills, etc. Did I get the job? Don't know for sure - I was never even the courtesy of a reject letter!

Interview Details – This was for an internal promotion. In order to interview for the promotion, I had to fill out a questionnaire which was scored and then placed on a list. Once I was on the list, when there was a promotional vacancy I applied and then interviewed for the position.

Negotiation Details – There is no salary negotiation. The salary is set by the State of California and the Personnel Board.

Interview Details – When the state has an opening, they need to fill it FAST. I got a call Friday afternoon asking for an interview Monday morning. I went in and they were way behind schedule, about an hour late. They sat me at a desk and gave me a sheet of the interview questions - about 20 of them, and very in depth. Glad I had that hour to really prepare my answers. It was specific to the job - asking about previous coordinating experience, how do you deal with bad coworkers, etc. Not too bad, just have a ton of concrete examples to talk about. They don't want abstract "I'm a hard worker" but rather "Last week when 3 of my coworkers called in sick I jumped on and helped our unit stay on track." I went into the interview, which was 2 people (a 3rd was supposed to be there, but the doctor was too busy). They asked me all the questions, and it lasted about half an hour. Then they lead me to a desk with a computer and gave me a sheet of paper. They told me to follow the directions on the paper, and I had half an hour. This is called an "inbox exercise" and it's fairly common with CCHCS. They just want to prove you can actually do the work. Unfortunately, they don't know how to ask it very well, so I was unsure, but apparently I aced it. After I accepted the job they wouldn't stop talking about how amazing it was. The paper just asked me to put together a report on the number of people getting a liver transplant. So it listed 50 people had requested, 20 were awaiting doctor's approval, 40 had been rejected, and 2 had completed. So on the computer I used excel to make some charts displaying the data different ways, and then put it into a written report using word. I just explained the number of people and what that meant, and I ended with that because only 2 people had succeeded it was clear we needed to streamline the process to get more people finished with the process quicker. They called soon after, and I had to go in to get all my hiring paperwork done - several times sadly. They kept thinking of new things they needed from me. I ended up hiring myself mostly since I had worked as a hiring coordinator for the same department before.

Negotiation Details – There is NO negotiation. Your pay is posted online, on the job posting. The managers usually don't really know what you would make - just look at the classification online and you'll know. If you're concerned about where in the range you'll be you have to actually talk to HR, which is after you've accepted. You take it or leave it. It's almost unheard of for someone to decline.

Interview Details – FCC first class license required... experiance at a component level and commercial communications experiance required.

Negotiation Details – none

Interview Details – It was a great interview process with straight forward questions. Management was very relaxed and opened, which gave me the opportunity to focus on my experience and my qualifications rather than being too nervous. I had approximately nine questions and a writing assessment. The writing assessment had about ten different choices. Interview length was about 45 minutes. The interview had a panel of three. Two line managers and another upper manager.

Negotiation Details – State of California has set salaries for every position. There is no room for negotiation. You either start at beginning level or level 2, 3 or 4 depending on how many years of related experience you have.

Interview Details – I applied in April 09 & jobs opened up 12/09 I was persistant & kept calling the manager. I had a great interview & an offer followed by end of week.

Negotiation Details – There is no negotiation. Salaries are set.

Interview Details – The interview for Associate Governmental Program Analyst is a typical panel interview where you meet with the manager who would be your boss, one of the staff people you will work with and sometimes the HR person who works in the department which is hiring you. Most of the questions will be about your previous analytical experience. The most important thing to remember when interviewing for these positions is to do your homework ahead of time and know a little bit about the program in which you interview for. If you are scheduled for an interview, ask the person who schedules you if they can send you a duty statement. A duty statement is a detail job description of the position. Usually you can figure out what they are looking for by reading the duty statement and researching the department website.

Negotiation Details – At this level, salary is typically not negotiable. A starting Associate Governmental Program Analyst will always be started at $4400 unless you are transferring from a similar classification and you are already earning more.

Interview Details – Important to read the job specs and know a little about the agency to which you are applying. It is helpful to have experience with the agency, know of current events involving the agency, agency dirctor etc. Most interviews are a series of questions asked by the panel, don't worry about eye contact from them as they tend to have their heads down writing. This is a good thing. Try and repeat their question back in your answer. Good luck.

Negotiation Details – No negotiation in government job.