Interview calls

Answers to various questions regarding the SMART Scholarship application process. Includes many tips and statistics.
ryantetreault
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 3:10 am
Contact:

Re: Interview calls

Post by ryantetreault »

Not sure why they said two weeks, but that's not true. Winners will be notified in early April.
Aerospace Engineering Hopeful

frankiesmith
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:44 pm
Contact:

Re: Interview calls

Post by frankiesmith »

ryantetreault wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 8:19 pm
Not sure why they said two weeks, but that's not true. Winners will be notified in early April.
I thought maybe they meant they would be notifying me that they were recommending me for the scholarship. IDK.
Applicant
GPA: 3.8
Pursuing: BS in Information Technology w/ SysAdmin & CyberSec Concentration

horizons
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2021 4:01 pm
Contact:

Re: Interview calls

Post by horizons »

frankiesmith wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 5:31 pm
your_local_cheezit wrote:
Sat Mar 06, 2021 9:32 pm
I had a few questions: in the interviews, do they normally press you on the programming languages you've listed (other than on your resume) on your cover letter, essay, etc.? And expect you to be highly-technically skilled in them? What kind of questions about them would there be then? Is it valid to be someone who programs better than they can explain it? OR rather, do they ask their questions in a way like: "What type of programming languages do you know/have been exposed to? If yes, what have you learned so far?" giving you the opportunity to form your responses and explain your learning background? I'm mainly asking as an undergrad in CS with minimal programming experience so far, but the technical questions part really scares me.
Ummmm. I don't know about everyone else but the questions I was asked were not technical AT ALL. I don't remember all of the questions I was asked but they were more on the your general scholarship questions side. From what I've heard and read, every SF handles their interviews differently.

From what I remember of the questions I was asked:
Tell us a about yourself.
How well do you work on a team?
How would you handle conflict among your team and leadership?
Why did you choose a career in IT?
How do you handle competing tasks?
Why do you think you deserve this scholarship?
I second this. I'm a senior EE major and they did not ask me technical questions. Only questions about my research, projects, and future research interest, and even then they did not push as hard as other interviewers have from another fellowship that I am in the running for. Then similar questions to what is listed above. One place asked me if I was comfortable with programming/excel but the tone was more "would you be willing to do this kind of work?".

CS here

Re: Interview calls

Post by CS here »

How was the interview at Lackland AFB went? mine was today and idk. it was a bit rough

grace1234

Re: Interview calls

Post by grace1234 »

Has anyone in nuclear gotten interviews yet?

tkdmm

Re: Interview calls

Post by tkdmm »

CS here wrote:
Tue Mar 09, 2021 6:19 pm
How was the interview at Lackland AFB went? mine was today and idk. it was a bit rough
Just curious what you mean by rough? Did they ask tough questions

Guest

Re: Interview calls

Post by Guest »

tkdmm wrote:
Tue Mar 09, 2021 8:52 pm
CS here wrote:
Tue Mar 09, 2021 6:19 pm
How was the interview at Lackland AFB went? mine was today and idk. it was a bit rough
Just curious what you mean by rough? Did they ask tough questions
was ask questions over 45 min straight and was ask question bout AI and I didn't have work experience in it. over than that everything was ok. They were really chill tho.

some of the of questions:

Tell us about yourself.
How well do you work on a team?
How would you handle conflict among your team and leadership?
Why did you choose a career in IT?
How do you handle competing tasks?
Why do you think you deserve this scholarship?

neon_cs

Re: Interview calls

Post by neon_cs »

CS here wrote:
Tue Mar 09, 2021 6:19 pm
How was the interview at Lackland AFB went? mine was today and idk. it was a bit rough
Just had mine today as well. They seemed really nice. Scary though as I felt I was just rambling, they said they are coming out with decision by end of week, so hopefully I made a good enough impression.

neon_cs

Re: Interview calls

Post by neon_cs »

Anyone get an interview from the DIA yet?

CS here

Re: Interview calls

Post by CS here »

is it too late to get an interview by over sf ? so far I only got 1 sf contacting me

tkdmm

Re: Interview calls

Post by tkdmm »

[/quote]

was ask questions over 45 min straight and was ask question bout AI and I didn't have work experience in it. over than that everything was ok. They were really chill tho.

some of the of questions:

Tell us about yourself.
How well do you work on a team?
How would you handle conflict among your team and leadership?
Why did you choose a career in IT?
How do you handle competing tasks?
Why do you think you deserve this scholarship?
[/quote]

The question on AI is probably not a deal-breaker. The fact that they interviewed you, you have a great chance. Good luck.
For my son, the questions you mentioned were similar to his interview questions. He had interviews with 2 SFs. His interviewers seem to be from HR/recruiting staff. They did not ask him technical questions.

CS here

Re: Interview calls

Post by CS here »

So got an email back after my interview yesterday. They say my answers were impressive and that enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about ME and that they are confident that my STEM contributions will benefit this great nation.

But then they say they are not authorized at this time to release candidate selection information.

Damn, I need this to be a yes you got it so bad :? :? :?

neon-cs

Re: Interview calls

Post by neon-cs »

CS here wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:02 pm
So got an email back after my interview yesterday. They say my answers were impressive and that enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about ME and that they are confident that my STEM contributions will benefit this great nation.

But then they say they are not authorized at this time to release candidate selection information.

Damn, I need this to be a yes you got it so bad :? :? :?
I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!

kyleculus

Re: Interview calls

Post by kyleculus »

neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:11 pm
CS here wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:02 pm
So got an email back after my interview yesterday. They say my answers were impressive and that enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about ME and that they are confident that my STEM contributions will benefit this great nation.

But then they say they are not authorized at this time to release candidate selection information.

Damn, I need this to be a yes you got it so bad :? :? :?
I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!
You mention a release of decision by Friday, is this for the SMART scholarship in general or for a specific sponsoring facility?

jsalt231
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2021 4:51 pm
Contact:

Re: Interview calls

Post by jsalt231 »

kyleculus wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:58 pm
neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:11 pm
CS here wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:02 pm
So got an email back after my interview yesterday. They say my answers were impressive and that enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about ME and that they are confident that my STEM contributions will benefit this great nation.

But then they say they are not authorized at this time to release candidate selection information.

Damn, I need this to be a yes you got it so bad :? :? :?
I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!
You mention a release of decision by Friday, is this for the SMART scholarship in general or for a specific sponsoring facility?
I think it's specific to the sponsoring facility. I interviewed with a place last week that said that their deadline for submitting candidate preferences was this past Friday, March 5th. I interviewed with another yesterday that has until Friday to submit candidate preferences. It does vary per facility, although I don't know when they are for everyone/how late they can go.

neon-cs

Re: Interview calls

Post by neon-cs »

kyleculus wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:58 pm
neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:11 pm
CS here wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:02 pm
So got an email back after my interview yesterday. They say my answers were impressive and that enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about ME and that they are confident that my STEM contributions will benefit this great nation.

But then they say they are not authorized at this time to release candidate selection information.

Damn, I need this to be a yes you got it so bad :? :? :?
I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!
You mention a release of decision by Friday, is this for the SMART scholarship in general or for a specific sponsoring facility?
I think it is specific to Lackland AFB.

kpa226

Re: Interview calls

Post by kpa226 »

Anyone hear back from SF in Maryland or Virginia?

Guest

Re: Interview calls

Post by Guest »

I had my interview with the NGA last week in Virginia and that's about it so far.

Guest21

Re: Interview calls

Post by Guest21 »

neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:11 pm
CS here wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:02 pm
So got an email back after my interview yesterday. They say my answers were impressive and that enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about ME and that they are confident that my STEM contributions will benefit this great nation.

But then they say they are not authorized at this time to release candidate selection information.

Damn, I need this to be a yes you got it so bad :? :? :?
I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!
Did your email contain anything else, or was that it? I know someone that interviewed, received a similar email, but it also included a couple of more bullets about a visit by xxx date and a need for security clearance.

neon-cs

Re: Interview calls

Post by neon-cs »

Guest21 wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:00 pm
neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:11 pm
CS here wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:02 pm
So got an email back after my interview yesterday. They say my answers were impressive and that enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about ME and that they are confident that my STEM contributions will benefit this great nation.

But then they say they are not authorized at this time to release candidate selection information.

Damn, I need this to be a yes you got it so bad :? :? :?
I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!
Did your email contain anything else, or was that it? I know someone that interviewed, received a similar email, but it also included a couple of more bullets about a visit by xxx date and a need for security clearance.
Mine had that paragraph plus the extra bullet points

CS here

Re: Interview calls

Post by CS here »

neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:06 pm
Guest21 wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:00 pm
neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:11 pm


I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!
Did your email contain anything else, or was that it? I know someone that interviewed, received a similar email, but it also included a couple of more bullets about a visit by xxx date and a need for security clearance.
Mine had that paragraph plus the extra bullet points
yes Mine had that paragraph and the bullet points also. So is this just a generic email they send to everyone? so this email doesn't mean anything at all???

Dilly
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2021 3:42 pm
Contact:

Re: Interview calls

Post by Dilly »

Make sure you reply to that email and thank them for their time, etc. If you have anything else worth mentioning, now is your opportunity!
Semi-finalist :)
At a state university - 3.90 GPA
Pursuing BS in civil engineering w/ minor in geology

ParadoxOSK
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2021 9:33 pm
Contact:

Re: Interview calls

Post by ParadoxOSK »

neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:06 pm
Guest21 wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:00 pm
neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:11 pm


I got the same email for my interview too. Strange because they said they'll release decision by friday. I am so nervous!
Did your email contain anything else, or was that it? I know someone that interviewed, received a similar email, but it also included a couple of more bullets about a visit by xxx date and a need for security clearance.
Mine had that paragraph plus the extra bullet points
I was told that my name was being sent in to the DOD and that it was no longer in the SF's hands. Is this the same kind of message you all were given? I did not receive an email but did receive the message via phone call.

neon_cs

Re: Interview calls

Post by neon_cs »

ParadoxOSK wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 3:27 pm
neon-cs wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:06 pm
Guest21 wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:00 pm


Did your email contain anything else, or was that it? I know someone that interviewed, received a similar email, but it also included a couple of more bullets about a visit by xxx date and a need for security clearance.
Mine had that paragraph plus the extra bullet points
I was told that my name was being sent in to the DOD and that it was no longer in the SF's hands. Is this the same kind of message you all were given? I did not receive an email but did receive the message via phone call.
I think on another post somewhere, that is a really good sign! If you don't mind, is the SF you are talking about Lackland AFB?

Dragon0

Re: Interview calls

Post by Dragon0 »

Can y'all log in to your Smart Scholarship website?? Idk if they lock me out or what. weird

Post Reply