US Department of Homeland Security Interview Questions & Reviews in Washington, DC Area

Interview Details – Federal hiring process.

Negotiation Details – No negotiation

Interview Details – I worked as a temp office worker while awaiting my security clearance transfer. I was transitioning from the US Army (12 years experience)...same career field. The office i worked at was the HR department for office of Investigations. They were the ones that convinced me to apply for a position with US Customs (which became DHS/ICE). The interview process was fairly simple and straight forward since they already knew me from work within the office.

Negotiation Details – Very straightforward.

Interview Details – Telephone interview followed by in-person interview by top two senior managers.

Interview Details – I interviewed for a position in the DHS HQ CFO's office for an accountant position. The CFO office had many vacancies was hiring for many different divisions. I interviewed with a panel of 3 managers and one of the managers was completely hostile. He told me in not so many words that I was more qualified to mop the hallways than be an accountant in his office. The other two managers tried to unsuccessfully defuse the situation. The whole panel seem unorganized and did not seem fit to interview potential candidates much less manage anyone's office. They kept asking me what grade I had applied for and then didn't know which KSA's were on the vacancy annoucement.

Reason for Declining – The entire ordeal was unprofessional and it was a reflection of the agency. No wonder DHS has the problems they have; look at who they allow to interview potential candidates.

Interview Details – I was contacted 6 months after I applied. I actually forgot which position this was. The human resources person called me three times to reschedule the interview. I was told that this would be a 1:1 interview. I arrived early for the interview. The interview started 20 minutes late and it was a panel interview. They did not use scripted questions. The one panel member looked completely disinterested. Turns out this was a "screening" interview and if I passed I would interview with the hiring manager. The whole thing seemed very subjective and unprofessional.

Interview Details – I was interviewed twice. First by a panel and then by the deputy and someone else. Interview went great. It was a structured interview and they ask a lot of questions about performance, working in teams, etc. Called for feedback and they said that I did great and the reason that I didn't get the job was because of "luck".

Interview Details – Three SESs conducted teh interview. One knew the outcome sinc ethe person hired was the spouse of his executive assitant. The person hired never interviwed and was the least qualified.

Interview Details – The Federal government - particularly the HR element - is a slow moving beast. I had a referral into this position, so it definitely helped to get past the first round of outsourced HR (machine read) vetting of resumes and KSAs (knowledge, skills, abilities) write-ups. The KSAs were pretty involved and involved relating prior experience to various position elements, including budgeting, program management, IT knowledge. Upon initial selection, the interview process was conducting via phone with an interview panel of GS-14/15s from the organization. These are the higher level, though none executive (SES) govies. The position I was interviewing for was a GS-14, which is comparable to a mid-level private sector manager or Director level (not to the VP, EVP, etc level). The panel interview was very straight forward and followed the elements listed in the position description. Later, once I had the position and was a manager in the org myself, I did my own hiring and also served on interview panels to assist others with their hiring and I learned that by govt rules, the process is very rigid. Each interviewee is asked the EXACT same questions to prevent any preferential treatment, though follow-up questions can elaborate as necessary. Once the interview was complete, the waiting began. Looking at this from the org side, this is due to the HR hoops necessary, lack of HR personnel, etc within each govt org. It was several weeks before I got the call and the offer. After that the security clearance took another 2-3 months. Whew! As to culture, DHS is a young org in govt terms and as it was created by combining several different org, there are still some growing pains - mostly political in terms of upper level control and positioning for budget $$$.

Negotiation Details – It IS possible to negotiate with the government, though the manager hiring you will then have to do a specific write-up to be submitted via HR up the organizational chain for approval. I was offered a Step 1, which is the lowest pay level for this grade (GS14). This was comparable to my current salary, so I took it (and the govt stability/benefits) with little negotiation. If you want to negotiate, you should have a current salary in excess the offer. If this is the case, they will ask for documentation and HR will take your request back to the hiring managers, who typically are not offput by this, unless this is an "old" salary level and you're trying to bs them for more money. Also it should be noted that relative to the private sector the salary is lower, though benefits and retirement plan is better. I had contractors working for me that made 30-50% more than me, but when their work goes away, they're fired. Govies rarely if ever get fired once they're made it through the 1 year probationary period.

Interview Details – I applied for the position on-line, then was called for an interview.

Negotiation Details – No negotiations since I was already a government employee. There is a specific process that needs to be followed with no outside influences.