I applied online to several jobs. About a month later I got an e-mail about setting up a phone interview to discuss a possible job fit. The job in question turned out not to be one of the ones I applied for, but a similar one (which was fine by me). The phone interview was quite friendly. I was asked about my current research and about my career interests. The interviewer also answered my questions about MITRE. Quite early on in the phone interview the interviewer said that they were going to fly me out for an in-person interview. It was clear that the phone interview wasn’t so much a test to pass or fail as it was a gauge of my interest in the position. They wanted to make sure I understood what the job would entail and that I was still interested.
Scheduling the interview was quite painless. The interview was about three hours long. In that time I met with a person from HR and four of the people I would be working with. I also gave a 20 minute presentation on my research. The HR person asked the standard questions - strengths, weaknesses, career goals, etc. I got the impression that they didn’t quite understand the position and its responsibilities, or what it would pay. Fortunately, the other people I interviewed with filled in the gaps. I had a slightly mixed experience with the four analysts with whom I met. Two of them seemed a little hung up on the fact that my background was in the physical sciences rather than in operations research. They were friendly, but I didn’t get the impression that they felt I was the right person for the job. The other two (one of whom was the division leader) were much, much more positive, and seemed to feel that my background in the physical sciences would make me a great addition to the team.
I wasn’t asked any surprising questions. Mostly the usual: why do you want to leave academia, what kind of analysis did you have to do in your graduate work, etc.
The presentation was enjoyable, if short. The goal of the presentation was not to wow them with amazing results, but to take a complex, technical topic and explain it in a way that a room full of intelligent non-specialists could understand.
The people seemed to enjoy their jobs, and the benefits and pay (I was told the ballpark figure) were competitive. One particularly telling fact was that everyone I met with had worked there for at least 10 years, and that seems to be quite normal. It’s a very good sign if people like their jobs enough to stay for that long.
I walked away with an overall positive impression, but it was hard to be certain about anything with such a short (3 hour) interview. I would have liked to meet with more people. Perhaps the best thing would have been lunch or a lengthy coffee break with 2-4 of them. That would have given me a look at how they interacted with each other, and what kind of social/collegial environment existed in the division.
I wrote to MITRE when I was offered a job at a similar company, asking when they would have their decision about whether to offer me the job. They were prompt and very up front, telling me that they would take about a month longer. So, I withdrew myself from consideration and took the other job.