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US Patent and Trademark Office Interview Questions & Reviews in Washington, DC Area

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Web: www.uspto.gov | HQ: Alexandria, VA

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Updated Oct 31, 2011 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
Ratings are reflective of location and job title.

Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 5 ratings

2.6

“Easy” Interview

Interview Experience [?] Based on 5 ratings

Positive	60%
Neutral	40%
Negative	0%

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1–5 of 5 US Patent and Trademark Office Interviews

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3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Feb 2011 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)

Fairly straightforward, interviewers were very friendly.

Interview Questions

What experience do you have in patent law?

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Background Check.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Dec 2008 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)

I initially emailed the company and an associate replied with a few basic questions. After I replied and answered the questions, I was invited for an interview and took a tour of the company. I was originally interested, but after seeing the location of the office and the salary offer, I became less interested.

Interview Questions

Why do you want to leave your current job?

Answer Question

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

3.0

Average Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed May 2007 in Alexandria, VA (took 5 weeks)

1. Submitted my resume to the USPTO.gov website. Called several times to follow-up, but that did not help. Finally received a call about 5 weeks later. Told them I would be in the D.C. area in a few weeks for a job fair
the USPTO was having. Arranged a meeting then.

2. After that, received another phone-call basically seeing if I could construct an a English with proper sytax and grammar. After that, another 3 weeks passed.
3. Finally, received an email with the offer and salary amount, GS grade. Called and accepted the offer.

Interview Questions

Describe a project you worked on.

View Answers (1)

Describe your understanding of the Patent Application process.

View Answers (1)

Negotiation Details

There was none. Its the Government. GS scale pretty much leaves no room for negatiation. Either you
have the degree/experience or not.

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Background Check.

More US Patent and Trademark Office Junior Patent Examiner Interviews

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Neutral Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Nov 2008 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)

Interviews were being held at City College in New York. Everybody first sat through a 30 minute presentation of an overall summary of the job, the facilities on campus, etc. After the presentation, each person was assigned to an interviewer. My interviewer was a SPE- a supervisory examiner- who had a form of generic interview questions (the questions are the same for everyone). It was a pretty easy interview. My interviewer even called human resources to hire me immediately! Basically, you know if you're going to be hired or not after the interview.

Interview Questions

How do you react to criticism?

Answer Question

Negotiation Details

There is no negotiation. You enter the PTO at a certain grade level eg. if you have a masters you enter at GS-9, which has a specific payscale.

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

More US Patent and Trademark Office Junior Patent Examiner Interviews

Helpful Interview?

Yes | No

Inappropriate?

2.0

Easy Interview

Overall Positive Experience

Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Mar 2007 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)

I applied online through the website and filled in all the necessary information. A few weeks later I received a phone call from a SPE who asked if I had a few minutes to talk. The interview was done immediately and entirely over the phone. I was asked what I thought the job entailed and why I thought I would be a good fit. We also discussed some of the items on my resume and I was given a more complete description of the day-to-day job. At the end of the interview, I was told that I should be receiving a call from HR with an offer in the next few weeks. The HR process was slow, but eventually, I got the offer and accepted after comparing it with one other offer I received.