I recently went through two rounds of interview — first a technical round with the hiring manager, then a soft skills chat with HR. The technical interview was intense but fair; the manager asked a lot of detailed questions and spoke pretty fast, but it was a solid conversation overall. The HR round felt more polished and formal, and I found it a bit hard to get my points across naturally. I made it past the technical round, but didn’t move forward after HR. Still, a good experience to learn from.

The hiring manager (Sr Director) called me directly instead of HR. It was a little bit strange. The interview went really well, and she asked for my references, which was a bit strange, too. I sent her my references and a follow-up email to make sure she received them. She didn't respond to my email. After a week, I sent another follow-up email, but no response again, sent another follow up email after 2 weeks, again no response. A month later I received an email from Merck HR saying that I was not chosen for this role. A company at Merck level should not act like that. They could be more professional.

HR seems to screen for experience and keywords for the job description. Interviewing seems dependent on the department, whether it's a panel interview or a series of interviews. Interviewing is more behavioral based questions, technical skills, and responses to theoretical scenarios.