I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Medtronic (Northridge, CA) in Nov 2012
Interview
A few weeks after applying online, I got a phone interview followed by an on site interview which consisted of an interviewee presentation and one-on-one 30 minute interviews with would-be coworkers. My presentation was questioned, but not aggressively attacked. Nothing too intense.
Most of the employees were cordial. Actually, I probably asked more questions than they asked me. They appeared to be a little weary from interviewing other candidates previously. I also sensed some apathy; it felt like they wanted to do good work, but the red tape was just overwhelming.
The interview lasted about 6 hours with lunch provided, and ended with a programming session in MATLAB and using some of their data. I don't think the results of the programming session are taken too seriously. They just want to make sure you are comfortable with some basic programming.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Before the on site interview started, the HR representative was insistent of me disclosing a previous salary and desired salary. I felt this to be rather pushy. I didn't encounter any questions during the actual interview that were too difficult. Much of the time was spent with the candidate asking interviewers about work-life balance, management structure, etc. One or two interviewers asked me about their products' limitations which I knew about from some previous online research. They also asked "why Medtronic?"
Unfortunately, my experience with the interview process was quite unprofessional. The interviewer seemed more focused on quizzing me with questions rather than having a meaningful conversation. When I asked questions about the role and the company, my questions were either ignored or answered with unrelated information. It felt like there was a lack of genuine engagement or interest from their side, which left a negative impression.
Fast, brief. It was for placement for college. Compulsory as part of the course. 9months total, paid. 2 interviews, both the same 2 people from the company. Note that I could not throw the interview (even if it was in another county) as it's first-come-first-serve so if I was picked I had to go with them. Was lucky I'm living in Galway anyway.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
(relating to a part-time job in retail) if you had a difficult customer who was shouting, how would you de-escelate the situation?
The process was relatively simple. There was first a call with a senior member of the team. Then there was a longer video call with the whole team with several short segments of small groups of interviewers. Lastly, there was a segment with just the manager.