An administrative assistance from the ABQ office called and emailed interview details. Interview was scheduled 2-3 weeks ahead of time via virtual meeting. She said it’s the norm to bring a 5 minute elevator speech and PPT and that I would be interviewing with the supervisor over the position. I made the mistake of not asking for specifics on the power point presentation and created one on my career history. Do yourself a favor and ask specifics if you’re told to present a PPT and are an undergraduate. The person she named supposedly over that department was not who I interviewed with, but was super nice regardless. There were a panel of four people via Microsoft Teams. They seemed surprised that I had a PPT to present so that caused some anxiety for me. They were nice enough to send the questions via chat and give me a chance to answer. Total of 7 questions, all star based. Panel was friendly enough but unfortunately did not try to sell me on the position or describe it in any capacity. I think they had already interviewed the person they wanted for this position prior to me interviewing. I knew I wouldn’t receive an offer because they gave zero information about the position and did not say they would be in touch, keep me posted, etc. Additionally, the PPT request was odd and seemed outdated unless you have an interview with the lab and can present research you’ve done. Regardless, I was able to takeaway valuable interview practice for my future position.

There were three interviews and the last interview was with the team to see if we would get along. Soon got a call with a job offer and accepted. Practice STAR method for interviews.