I applied through college or university. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) in Jan 2013
Interview
A group of engineers came to my school for two days to conduct interviews. I had an initial, on-campus screening interview that lasted about 45 minutes. The interviewer asked me to elaborate on some of the projects on my resume; he then asked me a few behavioral-type questions like, "Tell me about yourself" and "Describe a time you had an altercation with a teammate and how'd you handle it."
About two weeks later, I was asked to fly out to Pasadena for an on-site interview. In the morning, the HR department gave a presentation on the hiring process and the benefits of working at JPL. I then had three 30-45 minute 1-on-1 interviews with managers and supervisors; then I gave a one hour presentation on a project I had worked on. After the presentation, I had lunch with a few early-career employees and then I went on a tour. I finished off with four more 1-on-1 interviews.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable process. The on-site interviews were all about the same as the screening interview; just a few behavioral questions and then they ask you questions about your resume. The interviewers spent a lot of time talking about what their group does. Everyone was very friendly and personable.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Nothing really difficult or unexpected. Most questions were regarding my resume. Some other questions: "What do you want me to remember about you?",
"Why did you choose your major and school?",
"Describe a bad team experience and how did you handle it?",
"What are some of your hobbies and interests?"
I interviewed at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA)
Interview
There will be a number of phone screenings and technical interviews. This will sometimes be followed by an in-person technical interview. They will then reach out to you with an offer if you are a good fit.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give some example devices used for attitude control and determination.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Jan 2023
Interview
Two phone screens with group manager & section manager followed by a technical presentation and panel interview. Phone screens were mostly just going through resume and answering questions about the company. The technical presentation was on a past project I've worked on, and the panel interviews were highly technical and involved in-depth systems engineering, EE, and coding questions. Much more difficult panel interviews than I expected, but they thoroughly vet their candidates.
I applied online. I interviewed at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) in Apr 2022
Interview
Hiring Manager emailed, to schedule a 30 min call. Then they scheduled an online presentations (Covid time) with managers/senior members. This followed with one to one interviews over few next days.
The HR person was very rude and was the most difficult and annoying part of the interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
how scaling size of a beam will change the frequency of the beam