I applied online. I interviewed at Garmin (Olathe, KS) in Apr 2015
Interview
I received an email to set up a phone screen. Pretty standard. The call was in January. However, they did not follow up with me until March and apologized because the position was urgent need, but a new one came up and they wanted to move forward. This set up another hour-long phone screen. The HR rep was polite and easy to talk to. I was invited to their headquarters to do a quick face-to-face with HR, get a tour, do a software demo with two different team leads, and panel with two managers and another departmental professional (depending on the divisions that have openings). They will demonstrate with one leader, then have you perform simple tasks with the next. The panel is last. Even though I applied for a specific division because of my personal interests, they were considering me for all divisions which I DID NOT want and was not told until I was in the elevator. The demo also showed me that the position was not as advertised. I was subsequently demotivated and could not do my best to answer questions like "Why Garmin?" etc. Additionally, one of the hiring managers stared at the table or at the wall while I was talking. Not professional. The other two were polite and engaged. You will be asked some technical questions, but a semester in a GIS course would prepare you for it. I did not receive an offer which I think was due to fit (not being excited about the job anymore due to the demo). My day at the headquarters lasted 3-4 hours. The follow-up felt unprofessional and especially slow.
Interview questions [4]
Question 1
What did you learn about our geospatial software today?
There are a few rounds of interviews, first with the recruiter, then with the who you'll be working with. I would say overall the interviews themselves are pretty relaxed with straightforward questions that aren't too tough.
HR interview was normal, then a zoom/teams video chat for the second interview. They explained the job well and made me feel comfortable interviewing, but they drilled some basic 1000 level GIS trivia at me that I was not expecting.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What are the three necessary file types or file extensions that make up a shapefile (.shp)?
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Garmin (Olathe, KS) in Dec 2019
Interview
I applied online, and they emailed and indicated they would like to interview within a few days. On the phone, Molly put up a wall of classic Human Resources Impersonality. Their company culture reminds me of 20th-century manufacturers. All they can say is "We have good midwestern values." When I asked about management's style they just said it was "pretty hands-off." Short answers like this make me feel like either the recruiter either doesn't know (more likely) or they are hiding problems at the company and can't invent a good response. The whole time I felt like I was talking with a very convincing AI chatbot and not a human being. It's creepy and companies should not do this. I could not get a good description of what everyday work is like in this position. Again, the recruiter likely does not know. Also, why are we talking about my technical abilities in the first interview? Why would anyone want to work for a company that does this? That's like going on a first date and being like "So, do you have more than 50,000 dollars in your savings account? By the way, I forgot my wallet." At Garmin, the idea of emotional intelligence is apparently non-existent in HR and among hiring managers. I've interviewed at Garmin more than once, but I continue to be confounded by this. There are serious culture problems in this company at a fundamental level. However, you can't fix wrong premises by applying fixes to the symptoms. They fail to understand quality, personality, team-building or hiring the right people. I'm assuming that most people who get an offer to work there are perfect for this type of interview, and this culling of personality shows up in their teams and ultimately their products.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is the difference between vector and raster data (in GIS)?
