MS/PhD is table stakes for Sandia. The interview is usually with a specific department. They often have some kind of preferred profile in mind, and if you meet that profile you might get an interview. Internal candidates (former interns especially) often get preference, and sometimes you’ll get asked technical questions that feel very out of left field because the preferred candidate may have extensive experience with that question and it’ll give them a chance to shine while Sandia can claim it’s impartial. Sometimes truly brilliant external candidates make it through, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t. The final interview is a panel interview with members of the department you’d work for. You’ll know soon enough if you are the preferred candidate because you won’t feel like you were ghosted. Sandia hires in months, whereas most other places hire in a few weeks. My opinion is that this process is pretty biased and maybe even discriminatory against those without graduate degrees or extensive academic experience. But all national labs are similar in this regard.

The complete interview and hiring process will take months so don’t feel discouraged. I applied in late June and was contacted by a recruiter in July for a screening call. Then I was contacted by a hiring manager a few weeks after to fly me out for an all day interview. It was an all expense paid trip and everybody was super friendly and welcoming. The security was understandably tight so get there early. The hiring manager was my host and he introduced me to other colleagues in areas I expressed interest in. My day stated at 8 am with a presentation on my thesis. This was then followed by a few behavioural interviews and then lunch with a couple managers. After lunch was multiple technical interviews where I got asked a lot of conceptual questions and theories for CS and less leetcode problems. I liked how they pushed me with every question until I got flustered and got stuck. But it’s ok to not excel at every question because they just want to see how you think and what your limits are. My interview ended at 5 pm and I was pretty mentally spent. The hiring manager hinted at the possibility of receiving multiple offers soon. A little after a week, I got an email from HR stating that I was offered two positions. After talking with the managers and making my selection, HR requested transcripts and basic security checks. I then got a verbal offer 2 weeks later and an official offer letter a day after accepting the verbal offer. Overall, the whole hiring process from application to offer took about 4 months.

Very strange experience. I was contacted by a recruiter TWO YEARS after applying. Then, I get set up with an interview for a position that's not even close to the job I (re)applied for. A month later I get a call from another manager. First call is good. Then I have a technical phone interview which goes well. Then I get invited to interview on base, which goes, I think, very well (I got the 'ol "how soon can you start?" question as I was dropped off). About a month later my would-be supervisor schedules a phone interview. He asks about my interests and tells me where he sees me fitting in. He tells me I will get a call the following week from the hiring manager about start date, pay, etc.. He even gives me his mobile number(!) so I can reach out with any questions. The pieces appear to be falling into place and I'm really really pumped, but I don't hear anything the following week. I contact the supervisor who says he was out of town. I wait two more weeks before reaching out again but receive another evasive response. At this point I realize that I'm being ghosted and that there is no job (though I hold a sliver of hope). About a month later I get in contact with another recruiter and ask for a status update. A few days later I'm informed via email that they went with another candidate. Now, let me be clear: if I was informed early on that I wasn't going to get an offer I would've left a positive review bc my experience until the very end was positive. Unfortunately, I wasn't informed early on, and I likely wouldn't have ever been contacted had I not took the initiative myself.