I applied online through the BESS System in June. The position closed at the end of June. I made sure my resume and job experience matched what the position required in the competencies section. (I have heard that BESS weeds out resumes based on keywords, and less than 1% of resumes submitted make it to the hiring manager; again, just what I heard from others. I also heard that if you just copy/paste the competencies into your resume, it automatically gets tossed.)

Two weeks after I applied, I received an email to fill out an employment application online. I did, and included my current salary/position etc. One week later, I received an email from the hiring manager to schedule a 1-hour structured phone interview, and he even attached a PDF with sample STAR interview questions to help me prepare. I scheduled the interview for a week or so after I got that email.

The interview was supposed to last one hour but lasted about 1 1/2 hours. There were no technical questions asked, only STAR interview questions that were right off the competencies. The interviewers were the hiring manager, the department lead, and a senior engineer. They took turns and asked 5 questions total.

One month later, I was invited to visit the site via an email from the hiring manager. I spent 3 hours meeting everyone on the team I would be working with, seeing the different buildings and processes, and learning about what I would be working on. Also, they paid for flight, hotel, car, and reimbursed for food and gas. (I've read where others have paid this out of pocket without being reimbursed. Why would you do that? If they won't pay for your flight/hotel, then at the minimum, get it reimbursed.) The site visit was on a Friday. The very next Monday, I was given a contingent offer. I have heard that this process differs by position (engineering, labor, HR etc.), location, department, group, and need, and at an average takes 3-5 weeks for an offer to be made.

There were no difficult or unexpected questions. This was a structured interview using the STAR interview method. To abide by their policies, I cannot say verbatim what the questions were. But I can tell you that, at least for this position, every question was based on the competencies and was geared to find out how I work with others and deal with certain situations.