UMBC Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process started with a 30-minute online meeting focused on behavioral questions. This was followed by an on-site visit, which lasted about 1-2 hours and included a tour of the lab facilities. They place a strong emphasis on evaluating your skill alignment and feedback from your references.

I've interviewed a few times at UMBC in the past. Have yet to get an offer. The most recent interview, however, turned me off and I'm not sure I would have accepted even if I had gotten an offer. On question number three, the hiring manager told me that he was going to throw me a curve ball question with the intention of "lightening the mood" and "getting to know what my thought process was." He then said, "I am thinking of a number between 1 and 100. You have 5 shots to guess this number, asking me only Yes or No questions." This question absolutely did not lighten the mood. Frankly, it was a completely irrelevant question. If you Google the question, it's origin is at Microsoft, Google, tech, etc because it is essentially a binary equation scenario. This question froze me because it was completely out of context and had nothing to do with my accomplishments or abilities. I received a different offer from another college in the area who didn't ask me such a silly question. Massive red flag and I don't think I will apply for future roles at this institution.

It took about a month and change. Started with a phone screening. Then there was a zoom call. The last interview was a zoom call with a panel of people from the department. I got a generic rejection email and then another email later but they didn't respond when I asked if it was about the rejection.

We started with some basic questions, then we talked about the current funding for the projects I'm working on. We also went over the timelines for these projects, including what needs to be delivered and the expected hours. They also mentioned benefits like tuition reimbursement and health insurance.