I applied online. The process took 9 months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD) in Mar 2012
Interview
As with any government position, it took an amazingly long amount of time between applying for the position and getting called in for an interview. They put me up in a hotel and paid for everything.
On the day of the interview, my contact brought me upstairs and dropped me off with a higher-up for a quick interview. Then I interviewed with my contact and a supervisee. I did this process three more times in three branches (a total of five or six interviews for the day). I had started at 8:00AM and was out by 2:00PM.
All of the interviewers asked very similar questions: coursework, ability to work in groups, statistical computing experience, major projects, and the like.
Somewhere between four and five months later (remember: government) I heard back with a job offer. They paid for the entirety of my move and travel expenses. Other than the amount of time it took to make it through the entire process, it was fairly painless, and the people here are great. They are knowledgeable, helpful, and fun.
I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD) in June 2024
Interview
All interviews were through Microsoft teams video conferencing. This was my timeline:
I applied in May, got my initial interview a month later, then had the main interview a week later. The main interview was an all-day thing where I spoke with 6 divisions each with an opening. The interviews were equal parts informational, behavioral, and simple technical questioning.
I received an offer a month or so later, and I got to choose between a few different divisions. My start date was in September, about 4 months after I originally applied.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you describe the concept of a standard deviation to someone who is new to Statistics?
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau in July 2020
Interview
Due to covid my interview was virtual which consisted of four phone calls. First with corporate overview to inform me about how the hiring process works and you can ask questions about pay and benefits. Second, third, and fourth interviews with directors of each division where you can receive offers from each one and they are independent of each other. Typical interview questions a few behavioral so have examples ready, why the census, basic statistics questions, and then programming experience. All the interviewers were nice and received feedback I did well for 2 of the 3.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you took initiative/resolved conflict/dealt with an angry coworker
I applied online. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at US Census Bureau (Suitland, MD)
Interview
You will have a sponsor branch which will pay to bring you to the HQ to interview. However, you will interview with multiple branches while you are here and can get an offer from any or multiple branches.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What procedure in SAS would you use to create a table of frequency counts?