City of Long Beach Interview Questions
& Process

So, first I had an online interview, and then they invited me to this oral panel interview. It was with three higher-ups in the department. They had a set list of questions and a timer for each one. There were ten questions in total. I kinda felt like the interview focused on a higher level of responsibility than what the job description initially made it seem like.

The whole process took about a month. About a week after the job posting closed, I got invited to do an On-Demand Online Interview. I had a week to finish it, and then they took another two weeks to review it before letting me know if I advanced. I think this online interview thing is pretty new for the City of Long Beach, and they're still figuring it out, which led to a bad experience for me. The emails and the interview itself had unclear and misleading instructions. Whoever set it up clearly didn't test it because there were still template texts and formatting problems. At one point, I was told to download an attachment and answer questions from it, but there was only one attachment and no questions in it; the questions were actually on the next page in the system. The page before that was blank, and I couldn't go back, which was confusing. The interview was only an hour long, and if you didn't finish, you were locked out. You couldn't even check your webcam or audio until you logged in, so if they didn't work, you were out of luck. The actual interview questions were standard, asking about my expertise, experience, and what I would do in certain scenarios.

So you first have to do two tests before they even think about scheduling the first interview. They're pretty easy, just basic CS stuff. If you pass them, you get put on a list. Then, depending on what the department needs, they pick you for the first interview. The first interview is usually with three people, and the second one is with four people.

I applied on governmentjobs.com and my qualifications passed the review. Then I was put on the eligible list. After that, I had an onsite interview with three managers, and then a second onsite interview with a director. Finally, there was a background check and then a job offer.