I first met a Nanosolar representative at an Energy and Environment Job Fair. They seem like they're doing great things in the field of utility and commercial solar energy and it's nice to see American innovation when the market is being flooded by cheap Chinese solar. I gave the rep my resume and she said she'd be in contact. Less than a week later, the rep called to set up a phone interview.
The interview process was rigorous. It began with a one hour phone interview during which time the interviewer (my prospective supervisor) asked me to explain in detail different parts of my resume. The conversation only turned to solar cells when I steered it in that direction. It seemed like he was more interested in hearing that I had a working understanding of concepts in my own field (I'm a biological field technician and geneticist). So he asked me to name the DNA base pairs, the formula for pH, salmon migration patterns and stuff like that. The phone interview seemed to go well, so the rep from the job fair called and set up an in-person interview at the office for the following week.
Upon entering the office, I was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement because they have proprietary combinations of CIGS solar components in their R&D department. I was then given an ID badge, offered water, and ushered into an interview room to the side of the front lobby. The supervisor with whom I had my phone interview met me there and we picked up the interview where we had left off. Fifteen minutes later, he left and a second interviewer came in the room, thus starting a cascade of fifteen minute interviews with various members of the R&D team for the next two hours. Again, no prior knowledge in solar cell manufacturing was expected of me. More questions were asked about my resume, the interviewers described the job to me, and at the end of the fifteen minutes, each interviewer asked if I had any questions for him. Complete this process ad nauseam for two hours, and you eventually run out of questions.
I guess the interview(s) went well because I received another call from the rep requesting that I come back for yet another round of interviews the following week. At this point in time, she asked me what I'd like to be paid for the job. I told her that industry standard appeared to be $21-25/hr (thank you glassdoor.com). She said they'd pay $22 plus benefits for the swing shift, which added up to about a $50,000 salary. This was acceptable.
The following week, I had my final round of interviews which had the same flow of the first in-person interview, except the interviewers were higher level management and the two staff scientists. At this point I was informed that the interview pool came down to me and two others and that they'd get back to me.
A week later, when I hadn't heard anything, I called the rep with whom I started this odyssey and she informed me that they offered the job to someone else. What can ya do? All in all, a very long and involved process. You will need to be able to take at least five hours off work over a month's span to complete the process, but isn't that just the way of it these days? The company itself seems pretty cool though, and if you have the time and patience, it may all be worth it.
