I was really interested in working at Intel, so I tried all the possible ways to get an interview (employee referral, several online applications, and talked to recruiters on campus and at career fairs). For this reason, I am not sure what got me a phone interview, but I assume it was the employee referral (which is usually the most efficient way to land at least a phone screening interview).
I got a phone interview in April 2018. It was a 1:1 phone interview with the facility manager for one of the sites at Intel in Hillsboro. He was friendly and we had a nice conversation, however he was rushing through the interview, so I had mixed feelings about it. First, he explained the position and what the job entitles. Then, he asked me to briefly talk about my PhD research project and asked basic questions about trouble shooting equipment. It was quick and lasted for around 30 min.
After 2 weeks, I got an email inviting me for an on-site interview. A HR person contacted me to schedule it and, after another 2 weeks, I was flying to Portland. It was a great experience, but very exhausting. First, I had a meeting with the manager that I had the phone interview with. After that, I had a full day of 1:1 interviews with group leaders (seven 1h interviews in total), a 1h presentation of my PhD work in front of all the people that interviewed me, and a 2h lunch with entry-level process engineers. The interviews were mostly based on explaining my research projects, skills on trouble shooting equipment, and conflict resolution. Prepare your questions! All the interviews gave me at least 30 min to fill with my questions, so bring a lot of questions to ask. At the end of the day, they mentioned that it would take between 4 to 5 weeks to hear back from them.
After 4 weeks, I got an official offer from the HR department.
Final considerations: 1) know your research and the pieces of equipment you use very well; 2) bring a lot of questions for the interview; 3) be patient and start the application process earlier, because it is a long process (>3 months).