I applied in-person. The process took 7 months. I interviewed at NIH (Los Angeles, CA) in Oct 2014
Interview
I met a representative at a biological conference and asked about positions that were open. I stayed in contact with the representative sending periodic updates. Six months later I applied to the online application and was accepted.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at NIH (Bethesda, MD) in Apr 2014
Interview
Had a personal contact with a Senior Researcher. Contacted them and told them about my interest in CS and research. Came in once for a Personality Quiz type interview where I discussed my past projects and programming knowledge. No technical questions. After a week or so I heard back. Overall a great experience and would recommend it to any students looking for a place to share their enthusiasm for health, research, and technology.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at NIH (Bethesda, MD) in Feb 2014
Interview
Relatively informal - sat down with the postdoc I would be working with and discussed my background, what the current lab projects are, what I would be involved with if I joined, and did a quick tour of the lab facility. It is on you to reach out to prospective labs if you apply to the NIH Summer Research Fellow program and express interest to set up an interview. I live in DC so I was able to do an in person interview, but I know that the postdoc I ended up working with also did phone interviews for later positions she was hiring.
