US Census Bureau Mathematical Statistician Interview Questions | Glassdoor.co.uk
US Census Bureau Interviews
Interviews
  • Jobs
  • Companies
  • Salaries
  • Interviews

    US Census Bureau Mathematical Statistician Interview Questions

    Interviews at US Census Bureau

    8 Interview Reviews

    Experience

    Experience
    71%
    29%
    0%

    Getting an Interview

    Getting an Interview
    72%
    14%
    14%

    Difficulty

    2.1
    Average

    Difficulty

    Hard
    Average
    Easy

    Interviews for Top Jobs at US Census Bureau

    More

     

    Mathematical Statistician Interview

    Anonymous Employee in Suitland, MD (US)
    Accepted Offer
    Positive Experience
    Average Interview

    Application

    I applied online. The process took 6+ months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD (US)).

    Interview

    You will have a sponsor branch which will pay to bring you to the HQ to interview. However, you will interview with multiple branches while you are here and can get an offer from any or multiple branches.

    Interview Questions

    • What procedure in SAS would you use to create a table of frequency counts?   1 Answer

    Other Interview Reviews for US Census Bureau

    1.  

      Mathematical Statistician Interview

      Anonymous Employee in New York, NY (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Easy Interview

      Application

      I applied online. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (New York, NY (US)).

      Interview

      A lot of behavioral questions. Everyone was very friendly and there were many questions about your statistics experience. Initially you will be contacted by a potential supervisor, but get interviewed for many different departments. Thus, the process takes all day. Make sure to arrive 30 minutes early if you drive, getting parking is confusing and there is a security check that takes time. My only negative is that the HR representative I got assigned was very lazy and late on everything.

      Interview Questions

      • Difference between bias and variance   1 Answer

    2. Helpful (9)  

      Mathematical Statistician Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Suitland, MD (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Easy Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 9+ months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD (US)) in March 2012.

      Interview

      As with any government position, it took an amazingly long amount of time between applying for the position and getting called in for an interview. They put me up in a hotel and paid for everything.

      On the day of the interview, my contact brought me upstairs and dropped me off with a higher-up for a quick interview. Then I interviewed with my contact and a supervisee. I did this process three more times in three branches (a total of five or six interviews for the day). I had started at 8:00AM and was out by 2:00PM.

      All of the interviewers asked very similar questions: coursework, ability to work in groups, statistical computing experience, major projects, and the like.

      Somewhere between four and five months later (remember: government) I heard back with a job offer. They paid for the entirety of my move and travel expenses. Other than the amount of time it took to make it through the entire process, it was fairly painless, and the people here are great. They are knowledgeable, helpful, and fun.

      Interview Questions

      3. Join the US Census Bureau team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. Helpful (6)  

      Mathematical Statistician Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Suitland, MD (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Easy Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD (US)) in July 2011.

      Interview

      This interview was for a GS-1529 (Mathematical Statistician) position at Grade 9, Step 1. I submitted a formatted federal resume on USAJobs.gov in response to a listing, and was contacted by e-mail a few weeks later.

      My interview day consisted of three one on one interviews with branch chiefs (managers of approximately 5 to 15 people) among three different divisions of the Bureau, though I later learned that anywhere between three and six interviews is considered normal. Any of your interviewing managers may offer you a position with their branch, but you are most likely to receive an offer from the manager who initiated your interview process (normally the one who first contacts you to setup the interview). All of my interviews were casual, with no questions to evaluate my qualifications and only very friendly questions about my interests and plans. My advice for the interview would be to relax and demonstrate that you are easy to get along and work with.

      Regarding the office & culture, my impression is that they parallel closely the interview process. There are a great many people, but the atmosphere is casual (jeans and polos were common at one end of the spectrum, though suit & tie was also a well represented set).

      I received an offer from my initiating manager after about two weeks (quite fast for the federal government, really).

      Interview Questions

      • Where do you plan to be in five years?   1 Answer

      Negotiation

      The offer included a 20% signing bonus with a one year contract. I attempted to negotiate a higher starting step (i.e. pay level) with the HR rep who delivered the offer, but didn't make any headway against the "This is the official pay rate for someone with your qualifications" response. I've since learned that up to a 25% signing bonus can be offered, so I'd encourage you to try that if your base salary negotiation goes the way mine did.

    4.  

      Mathematical Statistician Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Washington, DC (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Easy Interview

      Application

      I applied through college or university. The process took 3+ months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Washington, DC (US)) in June 2008.

      Interview

      From beginning to end, the interview to offer was at least 3 months. The interview process started by recruiting at the university I attended. Inexplicably, the Census Bureau recruits nationally for it's headquarters for statistician and economist positions and probably spends much more resources on that than it should on it, given the low amount of responsibility that new recruits end up getting. It will inflate your sense of importance and make you more disappointed once you arrive to start the job and see what it's all about. After getting lost in the web site for applying (which hasn't been updated in years), and eventually getting through the phone calls and emails if you're a candidate they want, they will bring you in to interview in Washington, DC. While people were nice enough, the whole interview process should have been a red flag for the bureaucratic mess you'll end up in once you arrive. The questions are cookie cutter and nothing to get worked up over. You won't get asked a hard question by any means. You get to have lunch in the cafeteria with socially awkward people. You probably shouldn't take a job where they give you lunch in the cafeteria on site.

      Interview Questions

      • What's a project you've done well at?   1 Answer

      Negotiation

      No negotiations really, it's the government! I was shown the wrong salary structure on my interview. I found the right one only because I searched for it myself. The modest reimbursement that I applied for (for moving expenses) was sent to the wrong address.

    5.  

      Mathematical Statistician Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Suitland, MD (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied through other source. The process took 5+ weeks. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD (US)) in July 2010.

      Interview

      It was very smooth as they found my resume in the database. I had applied to another position in the same company. The recruitment could have been as little as three weeks, but I was working elsewhere. I received the offer within 40 days. I had one week to respond.

      Interview Questions

      • What do you hate about your current job?   1 Answer
      • what do you know about disclosure?   1 Answer

      Negotiation

      I was not able to negotiate as it is a government position. My employers suggested that I try it with human resource by showing my current salary. So you may want to try it as well.

    6. Helpful (5)  

      Mathematical Statistician Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Suitland, MD (US)
      Accepted Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 6+ months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD (US)) in September 2012.

      Interview

      I submitted my resume online through usajobs.gov. It took several months (I think 5) but the hiring manager eventually called me. We had a very informal and casual phone interview and she said that the secretary would call to set up an interview. We set the interview for 2 weeks away and they paid to fly me from Savannah, GA to DC for that interview. The interview was actually a series of interviews and lasted from about 7:30 am until 4:00 pm with a lunch hour in there. Everyone was very nice and spent the majority of our interview time talking about life at the bureau. Most questions were about classes I had taken and programming experience. I got a phone call with my offer about 2 weeks later.

      Interview Questions

      • I got asked some specific questions about SAS and I kind of froze.   1 Answer

      Negotiation

      There really isn't much of a negotiation for Government Salaries unless you already have experience.

    7.  

      Mathematical Statistician Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate
      Declined Offer

      Interview

      phone interview
      in person interview with 5 departments (an all day affair)
      each department had from 1 to 3 person interviewers
      in formal offers through interviewers
      final offers through HR department

      Interview Questions

      • typical questions were expected

        the hard part was the whole day process. very draining   Answer Question

      Reasons for Declining

      didn't decline, still considering the offer

    Don't Miss Out On a Job You Love
    Upload a CV to easily apply to jobs from anywhere. It's simple to set up.