U.S. Department of State interview questions

I was invited to interview by phone; there was no follow up interview in person. The interview took place midday with two managers on the line. They alternated to ask scripted questions and took time to record my response. There was no feedback and the lack of face-to-face interaction didn't allow me to gauge how well I was answering. Questions were clear and direct. They started with common questions like: "Why do you want to work for the Department of State?" and moved on to more challenging behavior-based questions that asked you to describe times in which you solved problems, used discretion to make a difficult decision, etc. The question that was perhaps most important is "Are you okay with doing a monotonous job that requires the same activity repeated over and over each day?" This job is tedious and is designed like a production facility. You are still applying and interpreting the law, but you are required to do so at a measured speed within predetermined rates of error. It can be stressful. After the interview, I was contacted a month later with an offer from DC. The job requires a background check like nothing in the private sector; it took months to complete. I was finally able to start working six months after my interview and eight months after first applying.

I was actually interviewed for two different internship positions for different Bureaus. Once your application gets passed up in the application process, they're actually very speedy about making sure that they contact you quickly, usually within a week of your application status is changed on the e-portal, and from there they quickly get in touch with you. The interview that I did was one was for the Spanish Embassy and that one didn't go well at all. The woman who interviewed me didn't look at the screener packet that had all of my contact information and the phone interview was delayed by like 20 minutes because of it. She also got a lot of my professional details wrong and it kind of showed that she didn't read or look at my submitted materials. It also only lasted 11 minutes, and of that time she spent the first 8 talking about herself/the position. Didn't get the position. I did get the next one, which was for a different bureau that was state-side. Was a lot more positive. They asked me about why I wanted the internship, what my overarching goals were, and a few other things. I got the position and was very happy with the time that I spent there