Patent Examiner applicants have rated the interview process at US Patent and Trademark Office with 2 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 100% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Common stages of the interview process at US Patent and Trademark Office as a Patent Examiner according to 1 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 100%
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I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, VA) in Aug 2021
Interview
Applied on 6/30, received a "referred to selecting official" email on 7/22 (qualified for position, application will be referred to selecting official for further consideration, no further action needed), received an interview invite on 7/30 with one specific day and time provided, interviewed on 8/4, offered job on 8/20. Interview day/time was set by employer and notified three business days in advance. Name of interviewer was provided in this email. Interview was 30 mins long and conducted over Webex with a primary patent examiner.
Interview questions [5]
Question 1
Tell me what you know about the patent examiner position/process and how you will fit in with your experience
I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Washington, DC)
Interview
Online Hirevue interview. Interview was simple and brief. Questions were related to the general breadth of patents as a whole along with various personality questions. You are given multiple attempts to record your answers.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"Give us a time where _____ happened and how you responded"
I applied through a staffing agency. I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Oxnard, CA) in Jun 2026
Interview
I've only done the digital one, where I recorded myself, and it was fairly easy. You got chances to redo your recording, which was nice, and you had a minute before you read the question to prepare your answer. I found it to be intuitive.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was one time you had multiple things to do? How did you prioritize those things, and how did you complete them? (that's the gist of the question)
I applied online. I interviewed at US Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, VA) in Jun 2026
Interview
1st round: Hirevue interview, pretty simple, they asked 5 questions and you have the opportunity to retake each question 1 time. Total length was about 25 minutes.
2nd round: In-person interview scheduled a week after.