California Department of Developmental Services Interview Questions
& Process

It was a 2 step interview process. The first one was about a 1 hour interview tackling about 6 questions they had set for me. After this interview was a 1 hour technical Excel exercise. If you do well, they move onto calling/asking your references questions.

I went through an interview process at the Cathedral City location. It started off okay. The questions they asked about the job itself were very direct and related to my past work in healthcare settings. The HR person was super helpful with the paperwork before and after the interview. But the two women who interviewed me... definitely raised some concerns. They spoke negatively about the previous person in the role and then brought up my short stint working at a casino a while back, which was just to help me out financially at the time. The skills from that job had no bearing on this position, especially since my most recent role was at a state facility. Their comments about the casino job felt like they were trying to put me down, and it really threw me off. Another worrying thing they said was that the last person who worked there told them "[they're] bad people and that is why [she] left." I left feeling really uneasy and disrespected. Glad I didn't get a call back.

You apply by mail or drop off your application to HR. You also need to download and fill out the STD 678 form from ca.jobs.gov. The whole process from application to getting hired took about 7 months. The interview has two panels, each with two people. The first interview is recorded and they ask situational questions. The second interview isn't recorded and they ask you questions about welding. After the interview, there's a Live Scan background check, a urine test, blood tests, and a two-part TB test that involves two shots and two readings.

I applied and qualified for the list, then mailed in my application. I got a call to schedule an interview in Sacramento. When I arrived, they handed me a sheet with questions and gave me 5 minutes to review them. It was a standard situational panel interview with three interviewers, lasting about 20 minutes. After that, I had a 15-minute Excel analysis task on a PC where I had to do things like subtotal rows and columns accurately and give my opinion on the situation. I got a call later to discuss options, but I had already accepted a job elsewhere.