Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Researcher Interview Questions
& Process

First, the section manager called me for a 30-min Zoom chat to review my resume. They said it went well and they'd let me know. I then waited about 4 weeks for the on-site interview confirmation, which was scheduled 3 weeks out. Before the on-site, there was another Zoom call with 4 staff scientists who talked about lab projects and asked which ones might interest me. It was about an hour, just a conversation. The on-site interview itself included a 45-min presentation (my PhD defense slides) with 15 mins for questions. After that, all the scientists (15+) in the room asked me general interview questions. I also got a tour of the facility. The whole day ran from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. At the end, the section manager told me I got the job and to expect an offer the next week. I got an unofficial offer a week later. The whole process from applying to getting an offer took around 4 months. It was a nice experience overall, most people were professional, but some of the older staff could be aggressive with their questions.

I had to do a presentation and then spent a whole day talking with people from different groups at llnl. I'm still waiting to hear back after 4 weeks, which is getting pretty annoying.

The interview was a one-hour phone call with some of the researchers and staff who would be joining the team. They asked me about biology, programming, and data science topics. Everyone was really nice and seemed interested in understanding the extent of my HPC experience and data science knowledge. I had several email exchanges before and after the interview, which were helpful and positive. My only issue was that they mentioned searching for a 'unicorn' candidate who could do everything, but then admitted that such a person doesn't exist. It was disappointing that I didn't get to move forward in the interview process, even though I met 80-90% of the requirements for the role.