I applied through university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Beckman Coulter Diagnostics (Chaska, MN) in Jan 2011
Interview
I applied to this position through my university's engineering job postings. I received an email within a few weeks from HR. The HR representative screened me for basics such as work eligibility and date of graduation. I was also asked why I believe I am fit for this position.
Then I had a 45 minute technical phone screen that tested my knowledge of whatever languages I claimed to know. These questions consisted of basic container complexity questions (compare operations on an array versus operations on a list) to some problem solving questions (how do you know if a binary number is a power of 2 and how would you write a program to solve it). I was only asked questions relevant to what I claimed I knew beyond the basic algorithms material so it seemed like they wanted to know if I was a competent person who paid attention more so than if I was a human dictionary. It is important to understand complexity of elementary containers (lists, arrays, hash tables, binary trees), definitions of object oriented terminology (encapsulation, polymorphism, etc), and have a good understanding of most of the features in C++ and/or Java. If you have taken operating systems or database courses, that is a bonus.
Response was quick as I was contacted by the HR representative the next day for an on site interview. They were very accommodating; I was offered a rental car and a hotel room. The interview date was also very flexible. I had 6 interviews that lasted 45 minutes each. 4 of the 6 were either behavioral or asking about my projects. Occasionally they would slip in a technical question like what is polymorphism or what is multiple inheritance. During the two technical interviews was given the problem of writing a function to assist in solving a sudoku as well as writing a program that would solve the sudoku as well. This interview was intended to be a 2 on 1 interview but the other interviewer was not available. The other technical interview was another 2 on 1 where I was presented with a problem regarding writing a program to determine how many ways there are to make change for a given amount of money. The two technical interviews were intended for you to demonstrate how you think and how you might utilize group members to help you solve problems.
I was contacted about 2 weeks later notifying me that they had selected another candidate.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
How would you approach writing a program to solve a sliding tile puzzle?
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Beckman Coulter Diagnostics
Interview
Applied online, contacted via email, two phone interviews (mostly behavioral) and an onsite interview. Onsite visit included interviews with HR and several engineers who mostly asked questions about past experience as detailed on the resume.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Be prepared for many behavioral/self awareness questions- strengths, weaknesses, a time you were challenged, how you deal with stress, etc. Nothing particular unusual though.