I interviewed for Applied Materials (Santa Clara, CA) in December 2024 for a Mechanical Engineer (New Grad) position.

I applied online and was contacted by HR to fill out a screening form. After that, I had two rounds of interviews, both within two weeks of each other in December.

The first was a 30-minute "Get to know you" interview with a technical manager. It was all behavioral and based on my resume. It went really well; the interviewer was polite and very respectful.

The final round had two one-on-one interviews with a technical manager/director. These rounds also went really well and were just an extended version of the first round.

In short, all interviews were behavioral and resume-based. They didn't ask any technical or even aptitude-based questions. It was a very positive experience so far.

After the interviews, I did not get any updates from HR to my follow-up emails for a month. Then I followed up a second time in January and got a reply that they were still interviewing and would have a decision in 2-3 weeks because of the "holidays kicking in".

I waited another month after that and sent a follow-up. I got the EXACT SAME WORD-FOR-WORD reply from HR, which even included the same "holidays kicking in" phrase. They didn't even bother to change it.

Now it's been over three months since my final round, and they haven't given me any decision, and the application portal still says "Interview".

I have had companies ghost me before, and I know it's common. Applied, on the other hand, doesn't ghost you but doesn't give you a decision either. They give you false hopes and promises. It is the most unprofessional experience that I've had from a company of this level.

I have heard that this is a common practice that Applied follows while hiring New Grads. They have no regard for your time and effort. The lack of communication from HR just ruins the extremely positive interview experience.

People have received offers as late as May (from last year's hiring process) after waiting six months with little to no updates from HR. This is how Applied Material's HR department treats potential hires.

Just prepare your resume well and STAR-based behavioral questions.