I was initially brought in through a staffing agency. I interviewed with my direct supervisor. I found out the next day that they wanted to hire me. After a year I applied to work permanently, and was hired within a week. For the permanent position, I interviewed with my direct supervisor and my group's supervisor. The positions are announced internally first, and then externally. They don't consider external candidates at unless they can't fill the position internally, which is not often. An HR training seminar polled the class to see who had been referred in by a current employee. Almost everyone raised their hand. Mostly everyone in the room appeared to be right out of high school or college. There were only a couple older folks.