Short version:
Approx. 9 months of interviews including 2 phone interviews and 4 in-person interviews. Another 8 months to begin work after receiving job offer due to background investigation.
Long version:
While I was in college, I submitted countless resumes over the course of two years (2010-2012) online and during corporate visitations on campus for full-time and internship positions. In March of 2013 I was contacted by someone in NGs talent acquisition who was interested in bringing me in to a college hiring event after a phone interview. We kept in contact over the course of a few months, but after some silence I called back in August of 2013 to see if there was any update on bringing me in for the hiring event. Unfortunately, I was told by her; "Sorry, I don't work on this anymore."
My campus had its annual career fair in October 2013, which I attended. While handing out resumes and speaking to employers, I eventually came to the Northrop Grumman booth. Behind the booth was none other than the person who kept in contact with me during most of 2013 and then practically told me to "shove off". I handed her my resume, and she recognized it. She then asked me if I could come in for an interview on campus the next day, which I did.
The interview was not difficult; it was mostly asking about personality, college course experience, working with others, and projects; nothing irrelevant or made to stump the interviewee. After the interview, she scheduled me with a College Hire event that NG was holding in November 2013.
I suited up and made the two hour trip to McLean, VA for the College Hire event where I had two interviews, each with a manager from a different team. Again, the interviews were very relaxed and questions were mostly regarding my technical experience, college courses, and personality. One manager and I got off on a great foot about some of my interests and goals, and even had a few good laughs together. After the event, I was told that I would get my results in a couple of weeks regarding whether or not I would be hired. Unfortunately, this was around the time of the government shutdown, so I was told that the teams I interviewed with were down in funding and couldn't hire someone at the moment.
Back to square one after months of direct contact with NG, and only a month away from graduation, I was beaten and once again throwing my resume wherever I could. A few days after my hire event results, I received an email from someone in HR who was very apologetic, saying I was being considered for a position, but denied due to funding. She scheduled a phone interview with me and during it she told me to search for available positions that I qualified for and was interested in, send her the job IDs, and then she would contact those managers directly about me. I did just that, and a week later received an email asking me to come in for an interview.
Now December 2013, I suited up and went to the interview. I was being interviewed by two people where it was yet again a very relaxed interview with questions about my technical experience and college courses; no random questions thrown out of left field. The interview went well, and I could only hope that I would get favorable results.
A week later, I received an email stating that NG was moving forward with a job offer for me, and was contacted directly by phone about the steps to come. On my graduation day in December 2013, my family and I were out celebrating when I received a call about the official job offer and salary. From that point on, I filled out paperwork, traveled to the location for more paperwork, waited for the clearance process to go through, and received the okay to begin working in August 2014.
