Patent Examiner applicants have rated the interview process at US Patent and Trademark Office with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 100% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Patent Examiner roles take an average of 42 days to get hired, when considering 1 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at US Patent and Trademark Office overall takes an average of 42 days.
Common stages of the interview process at US Patent and Trademark Office as a Patent Examiner according to 1 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 50%
Background check: 50%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, VA)
Interview
Predictable questions, interviewer asked off a list of questions and didn’t ask any follow up. The interview didn’t feel like a dialogue or conversation. Had the opportunity to ask the interviewer some questions about the position at the end.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is a patent? (Define, explain your understanding of it)
Online/asynchronous first round through HireVue. Applied through official website. You only get referred to the second round if your background is a fit for the rank you're applying. Role spans GS-7 through GS-11.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How is your technical background a good fit for the patent office?
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)