Honestly, I was on pins and needles the whole time, but overall the process was a great experience. I'd been trying to get into Raytheon for 10 years to no avail. YOUR RESUME MATTERS! Do not send out something generic that you send to every employer. You have to really tailor it to what you're applying for. No more than a page and all relevant experience first even if it's not chronological. This got me an interview FINALLY. I applied for a position with a sign on bonus so I knew they were actively trying to fill the role. About 2-3 weeks after I applied I was contacted by a recruiter to set up an interview. It was a panel zoom interview with 3 other lab managers and the senior manager. They asked general STAR methodology questions. I prepared by discussing the req at length with a friend (this is a good idea whether or not they know anything about the job because it gets your brain working). I went line by line and talked about what I knew about it, and thought of and discussed scenarios where I experienced it. This served me well in the interview because the whole thing came more like a conversation than an interview. I felt like I nailed the interview and exactly one week later the recruiter called me to tell me I was a final candidate and that the department manager wanted to have a casual conversation with all the finalists (to check for personality fit and communication skills is my guess). I gave her dates and times I was available for a phone call, but the dates came an went with no call. Exactly a week after the recruiter called the second time she called for the third time to apologize that I had not been contacted by the department manager. She then sent an email requesting availability for another zoom meeting. I responded and treated the zoom like another interview since it was "face to face." The interview was very casual, a meet and greet. About 8 days later the recruiter called me and offered me the position. She sent over paperwork of tasks to complete. I filled out the background check stuff from Sterling, went for my drug test and fingerprints, did my I-9 and citizenship verification and waited. Two days later I received my eQIP (security clearance paperwork). It took several hours to complete and at the end it said that average time to an interim clearance was 16 days. Mine took about 7. The recruiter then sent a congratulatory letter and we firmed up a start date. The senior lab manager was in touch with me the whole time, super nice and super helpful in keeping my nerves at bay. Whole process probably took 2 months start to finish which is pretty great for a clearance job at Raytheon. I hope this helps someone since I always look for detailed experiences and rarely find them. :)