W. M. Keck Observatory interview questions

The hiring process consisted of three major parts. First was a one-on-one phone interview with the hiring committee lead so he could get to know me and get a general feel of how I might fit into the company. Next came the conference call with the entire hiring committee during which I was grilled with different programming, software design, and problem solving questions. There were a few lifestyle questions in there as well, since Hawaii is such a different place than most anywhere else. Finally, there was a two day on-site interview. The first part was a tour of the facilities at the summit. I was escorted around the telescope domes and got to meet the people that worked at the summit during the day. The second part was an all-day carousel of interviews. I was interviewed by the different software teams as well as the support astronomers, HR department, and Engineering lead. The interviews were 45 minutes each with two interviews back to back then a break of some sort. I also had to prepare a 30 minute presentation with a 15 minute Q&A period about what I have learned/done and how it applied to the job. They took me to lunch where I was allowed to

Well organized, excellent communication from HR, friendly people, complex questions that required pre-preparation. One phone screen with HR rep, one phone conference with panel, one in-person interview. Best advice: do your homework.