I applied in-person. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Smithsonian (Washington, DC) in Jan 2012
Interview
Interview came at the tail end of a 6 week internship and was conducted by my supervisor. Very informal - conducted in supervisors office over coffee. The decision to hire me had already been made it seemed. This seems to be the way with a lot of contractual work - take on interns after on-the-job vetting.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you complete the project that you will be working on?