I applied through university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Washington, DC) in Mar 2013
Interview
Went to my Alma Mater's career fair. Talked to a recruiter (who is a patent examiner himself/herself) for about half a minute and he asked me to sign up for interviews if interested, as long as you are an [insert technical B.S./M.S. major here] you can sign up at career fairs. Interviews were two-on-one (senior ex-patent examiners) at my school with one person talking while the other frantically takes notes. 30 minutes for first round.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Many "describe a time/situation when..." questions. Some I remember is "Describe a time when you were given a difficult task, how did you accomplish it"? "Describe a situation when you had to handle multiple assignments with the same due date when it seems you don't have enough time?"
I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Washington, DC)
Interview
Online Hirevue interview. Interview was simple and brief. Questions were related to the general breadth of patents as a whole along with various personality questions. You are given multiple attempts to record your answers.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"Give us a time where _____ happened and how you responded"
I applied through a staffing agency. I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Oxnard, CA) in Jun 2026
Interview
I've only done the digital one, where I recorded myself, and it was fairly easy. You got chances to redo your recording, which was nice, and you had a minute before you read the question to prepare your answer. I found it to be intuitive.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was one time you had multiple things to do? How did you prioritize those things, and how did you complete them? (that's the gist of the question)
I applied online. I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, VA) in Jun 2026
Interview
1st round: Hirevue interview, pretty simple, they asked 5 questions and you have the opportunity to retake each question 1 time. Total length was about 25 minutes.
2nd round: In-person interview scheduled a week after.