The entire process was long. Applied in September 2023. First phone screening interview with HR was one month from applying. 3 weeks later, a 30 minutes interview was scheduled via teams with the hiring manager. One month after, a panel interview was scheduled on site. It was with 9 people (Directors and principal scientists) from 9am to 3 pm, lunch break included. The interview itself wasn’t difficult, it was just too long. Some behavioral questions, technical and experience questions. It was organized even though two out of the 9 people were over teams since they are based in the UK. Exactly a month after the interview I received a verbal offer over the phone (Mid December) and the starting date is Late January 2024. They offered slightly lower salary but increased the % annual bonus and they offered a signing bonus as well which was nice.

I applied online and received a phone call about two weeks later. The caller asked if we could chat, but it was right before my biology lab, so I asked him if he could give me a callback or an email with his availability and I’d contact him. He assured me he would send an email, but I never received it. After waiting two days without any response, I reached out to the number that called me but couldn't connect, so I left a voicemail. When I checked my candidate homepage, I saw that my application was no longer under consideration. I was really sad to miss the opportunity to work for my dream company, but I also found this experience extremely unprofessional and disappointing. Normally I don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, but I did that one time because it was from Maryland, where I had applied to the AstraZeneca Gaithersburg site. In my previous job applications, all interviews were scheduled in advance, unlike this unscheduled call. It’s unrealistic to expect candidates to be available at any moment for an interview, and it actually raises a red flag for your company if candidates are just waiting around all day.