I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office in Aug 2012
Interview
This is actually an update, but as USPTO took seven weeks to respond, I couldn't edit my original post.
Interview Details – USPTO offered only phone interviews for this round of hiring, and HR makes decision based solely on the phone interview and resume.
The interviewers were two SPEs. All the questions asked during my interview have been mentioned here and were behavioral question. No technical questions were asked, and there weren't any curveballs thrown. Interviewers talked about the training academy, the production system, and career paths within the agency.
Interview took slightly more than 40 minutes.
Other Details - I applied online
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 interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, VA)
Interview
I started getting emails for the first round of interviews on 4/16 and did that first interview on 5/13. It was just simple behavioral questions. I received an email to schedule a live online interview on 5/19, and I am scheduled to take it on 5/21.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about a time where you had to prioritize multiple tasks and how you responded to it. Tell us about the outcome.