Sent a recruiter my resume, was contacted a few weeks later by another person with VZW, also asking for my resume. And though my memory is hazy, I believe yet another person emailed me to send my resume, to which I obliged. I didn't hear back for a while (but they said this at the outset, that candidates would be contacted a few months later).
Sure enough, I was offered the chance to come in and interview. Got to site and they had us wait in the lobby for a bit (group of about 6?) and then brought us to a conference room (where they had an excellent little cheese, cracker and pastry selection, I might add). They then told us the process; basically, each of us were to be interviewed by all 3 interviewers present. The process seemed fairly organized, they had rooms all ready to go and a schedule on hand. I think I did great with the 1st interview, pretty bad with the 2nd, and decent on the 3rd (still nervous after my performance from the 2nd). I walked out thinking I had blown it, but eventually I did get the call offering me the position (not for the role I had wanted, but hey - at the end of the day, there's worse things than doing a paid internship at VZW and having that on your resume).
As for advice:
- If you're applying for a programming internship: KNOW THAT TEXTBOOK STUFF THEY TEACH YOU IN CLASS. For example: What is object oriented programming and what are the benefits vs procedural programming? Are objects passed by value or by reference? What is the difference between final, finally and finalize? What is polymorphism? Etc...
- (For any position): Read up on the company! (This goes for ANY interview, mind you). Before my interview I did some research into their 4G rollout, expansion plans, etc. That came in super handy when I was asked my opinion of VZW's business strategy.
- Be positive! I recall a talk I had with one fellow during our break time (the HR coordinator was there too) - in our brief exchange he came off as very nonchalant about the whole thing, and somewhat negative in general. I don't know for sure if that played a part, but I can only imagine so, and I DO know he didn't get an offer. In short, show some enthusiasm, make sure you convey that you WANT to be there!
- Don't sweat the hard questions too much: I felt pretty low for a couple days after I thought I'd blown it, but it worked out alright after all - just do your best and definitely don't blow the REST of the interviews if you have a bad 1 first or second (see advice above).