Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Interview Questions
& Process

The interview was pretty much a behavior interview. They asked questions based on your resume and what you've done before. The initial application and questions on USAJOBS are just to make sure you meet the basic requirements, so the interview is where you actually give more details about yourself and your experience.

So the interview itself was okay, nothing super hard, the interviewers seemed like decent people. But then things went downhill fast. The hiring process was totally unclear, the director ignored my emails about the job and seemed to not care at all. I had to chase HR about my application status about three weeks after they said they'd have a decision. HR then told me I had an offer ready, but they took it back because I sent my transcripts by email after they'd already picked me. Honestly, I've never felt so let down and relieved at the same time. This place is clearly a mess.

For internship positions, it's easiest to have an internal employee referral. Also, the office within FERC you are interested in must have a position available. Since I had an employee referral, my interview was pretty easy. It was a phone interview- they asked me what I knew about power (the more the better of course) and why I wanted to work at FERC. Also, saying that a full-time position at FERC is something you are very interested in helps a lot.

I had a 45-minute zoom call with two managing attorneys. They asked me about my experience with energy law, and posed "what if" questions about balancing consumer protection against energy company profits. We also talked about my conflict resolution abilities from past jobs, my legal research and writing skills, and what I hoped to get out of the internship. They also wanted to know about my ability to work with different kinds of people, since I'd be working for various judges.