The day after submitting my online application, I received an email request to set up a screening interview by phone. The interviewer worked from a pre-set script. For some of her questions she typed my responses into free-text fields, whereas for others she seemed to have a set of radio-button items which I was supposed to include in my response. I had been told in advance that the call would take about 45 minutes; but it actually lasted about 50-55 minutes, so I felt I had provided fairly detailed responses. The interviewer was polite, punctual, and described to me exactly how the process would work and within what time frame I would be informed whether they were interested in pursuing my application further. However, she did seem either bored or simply detached. When I asked whether the company was currently hiring for oncology studies (as seemed to have been indicated by some of her questions), she gave a reply that was vaguely affirmative but added that such positions were "very competitive." Just by the way she said this, I was fairly certain that my application would go no further.

I applied online and was contacted by an HR recruiter for a phone screen pretty much immediately. I responded promptly but never heard back from her. I was then contacted by another HR recruiter for the same position and he did get back to me. The first interview was a phone screen -- a few technical questions, he explained the role, and he was pleasant and friendly. Within a few days, I was invited for a 1.5-hour interview with two managers. It started out pleasant enough, if not overly welcoming. Several technical questions, hypothetical situation-based questions, and lastly STAR behavioral questions -- make sure you know your therapeutic area well. Unfortunately, I felt very uncomfortable in this interview and was interrupted several times mid-sentence. One of the managers also wrongly interpreted my resume a few times and the other manager had to correct her. Overall, it was not a very pleasant experience. At this point, I knew it wouldn't be a good fit for me. This was unfortunate, as I'd been quite passionate about the company and the position. But it was a good reminder to reassess opportunities during the interview phase: candidates are interviewing the company as much as they're being interviewed for the position.