I applied online. I interviewed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA) in May 2015
Interview
Full day interview process. 60-90 minute seminar, followed by 30-60 minute 1on1 sessions with possible team members.
Have sat on both sides of the interviews. I feel most people who get brought in are qualified, and their goal on the interview is to make a positive impression and give a sense that they are qualified and know the details of their past jobs/roles.
I rarely felt like people were testing me during my interview, most of the sessions were asking questions from my talk. Occasionally I was asked a quiz type question, but most people wanted to see how I approached problem rather than knowing the answer. Some sessions were simple laid back discussions.
When interviewing I prefer to ask non-technical questions, but this shouldn't be expected for all sessions.
Interview questions [7]
Question 1
If given $1M to do a year of research what would you work on?
I interviewed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA)
Interview
I applied online. I had a chat via webex with one staff scientist. It was a phonescreening and showig my work related to the position. Rejected through. The whole process took 4 weeks.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA) in Mar 2023
Interview
It was a whole day interview including a 1-hr seminar session, multiple panel meetings, lunch, and lab tour. It is kinda like a mini-version for TTAP interview. The lab covered my flight, transport and lodging, very thoughtful!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is your ultimate goal for scientific research? What is your passion? What do you expect to gain from this position?
I applied online. I interviewed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA) in May 2022
Interview
1) Section manager reached out to conduct a 30-min screening Zoom call with one other staff scientist to go over my resume. Said the interview went well and we'd be in touch.
2) Waited ~4 weeks to get a confirmation for an on-site interview. Scheduled the on-site interview 3 weeks in advanced.
3) Before the on-site interview, a "pre-interview" was conducted via another Zoom call with an additional 4 staff scientists, debriefing me about the projects that are going on in the lab, and which ones would interest me. ~1 hr call, nothing difficult, just a conversation.
4) On-site interview was a 45 min presentation + 15 min questions (basically my PhD defense slides). After the presentation was the actual interview where all the scientists (15+ people in the room at the same time) asked you basic interview questions. Afterwards I toured the facility of where I would be working. The entire process started at 7:30 am and ended at 4:00 pm. At the end, the section manager said I had the position and to expect an offer some time in the coming week.
5) Waited another week for an (unofficial) offer.
Total process took ~4 months from submitting the application to getting an offer. Overall, nice experience. Majority of the people were professional, but some of the older staff can come off as aggressive when asking questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
For the presentation, basic questions about your research and slides; not many technical questions, more or less clarifications on your projects. The main interview took place after the presentation where they asked soft skill questions.
1) How do you handle working with a difficult coworker?
2) Have you ever been faced with a situation where you had to make a decision without all the immediate information?
3) What is your approach to solving a problem?
4) Describe a time where you had a disagreement with your advisor.
5) How do you prioritize projects and your work flow?
