I applied through college or university. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Sandia National Laboratories (Northfield, VT) in Feb 2020
Interview
From 6-12 questions about programming and cybersecurity, they wanted to see my level of experience in both subjects to gauge whether I was a good fit for the position or not.
I applied online. The process took 9 months. I interviewed at Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, NM) in Aug 2022
Interview
Submitted applications through their online careers page. Resume bounced between groups in multiple locations over the span of the first 6 months before it landed in the best fit. Interviews consisted of a couple of one on one calls with HR and hiring managers and ended with an official interview day with a presentation and multiple rounds of team interviews. The technical staff and hiring managers were pleasant to interact with and made the experience enjoyable. I communicated a lower bound on expected compensation, defined as my current salary at a another national lab in the same state, to HR early in the process. They proceeded with interviews for 6 months, but came back with an offer more than $20k lower than what I was already making (which is already below market). Upon request, I provided the hiring manger with additional inputs to help write a justification memo for an appeal. The comp team's counter was only $2k higher with some additional sign on, making the entire effort a huge waste of everyone's time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What kinds of research projects would you propose as soon as you joined the team.