I applied through other source. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Bridgestone Americas (Akron, OH) in Dec 2009
Interview
I learned about the position through an email forwarded to the graduate students. The position required a recent PhD graduate in mechanics or related field with experience in constitutive equations for polymers, experience using finite element method, and a finite element software. The position was in the research department of Brigestone-Firestone.
I think I was a good fit for them, they called me in two days for a phone interview. Two days after the phone interview they said that they wanted to bring me to the Technical Center for an on-site interview. They took me out for dinner the day I reached there and breakfast the next morning. The interview started with a 30 min presentation followed by 15 minutes for questions. It was followed by three 45-minute panel interviews, a tour of the labs, and an hour long 1-on-1 session with the manager of the department. It was a very busy day. There were lots of technical questions about my research and how I would solve some of the challenges in modeling a tire. They showed me a cross-section of the tire and asked mechanics related questions about individual components in a tire.
The people at Bridgestone were incredibly friendly, hospitable, and generous through out the process. They called me two weeks after the interview to let me know that I will be offered the position. I practiced the presentation before I went because the interview process started with the presentation.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Tell me about an instance when you continuously improved something you were working on.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Bridgestone Americas in July 2013
Interview
The initial interview was a phone interview with three people to include the engineering manager, plant engineer and a HR representative. The follow-up interview was a face to face interview with again, three persons, this time in place of the plant engineer the maintenance manager was in the interview board. There are standard questions that each person rotates through and they each rate the applicant based on their answers.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give an example of a difficult situation at work and how did you resolve.