General Atomics Systems Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Three interviews happened: first a 30-minute phone call with the manager, then a 1-hour panel interview with 4 people, and finally a 45-minute interview with 2 people. It was a pretty bad interview experience, honestly. For an entry-level role, they didn't ask any questions about my experience that let me show my strengths. The only types of questions were like "Can you clarify your experience at [Company Name]?" and then "So, no RF experience then?" This was after I clarified multiple times that I don't have RF experience. I just wasn't given any chance to talk about what I'm good at. Instead, I was in three technical interviews where I felt belittled, interrupted, and even laughed at by a technical director. The manager I would've reported to was on his phone for half of my 1-hour interview. The third interview was apparently "needed" because two people couldn't make it to the panel interview. It was a really strange process. They said it was entry-level, but then they grilled me for over 2 hours with technical questions I was told I wouldn't need to know. No questions about me personally. And the third interview, which they said wouldn't be technical, turned out to be technical anyway. It seems like this team at General Atomics only cares about people who can just spit out textbook knowledge that most engineers could learn quickly.

I was emailed by a recruiter about a job opening. It looked like a good fit, so I replied asking how to proceed. I was told to apply online, upload my resume, and suggest a time for a phone interview. I did this, and we set up a time to talk with the hiring manager. The interview started, but it became clear the manager hadn't looked at my resume. He asked if I was looking for a contract or direct hire, which I said I was open to depending on circumstances. I thought the job was posted as direct, but maybe I was mistaken. He talked about the company and the role while skimming my resume. The job also had project management aspects like Earned Value Management, and I mentioned I had experience with that, which my resume shows. After about ten minutes, I could tell he wasn't interested. I think he had a specific skillset in mind and didn't see it from his quick resume review. He asked one general question, listened without feedback, and then asked if I had questions. This was about 15 minutes into the interview. I asked a couple of prepared questions, and he answered them okay, but I was mainly thinking about how bad the experience was for both of us. I'm sure he's busy, but my time is valuable too. He apparently only needed 10 minutes of multitasking to decide he didn't want to hire me. My advice is to spend that time reviewing the resume *before* the interview.

First, a 15-min recruiter phone call. Then, a 30-min panel phone interview. If you pass that, they'll fly you out to Poway for a 5-hour face-to-face interview. After that, you'll meet with a recruiter to talk about salary. Then, you'll meet with a panel of engineers who will ask you technical questions about UAV systems, like comm. protocols. Next, you'll meet with the supervisor, who would be your boss, and they'll ask you business questions. Finally, you'll meet with the head of the department for what seems like a personality test to see if you have the 'nack'. Then you go home.