MIT Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – I was first contacted and had a brief phone screen that lasted approximately 20 minutes. They asked me a few basic questions about my interest in the position, my prior experiences, and my salary expectations. I was invited in for an in person interview by email the following week, and I met with the associate director and director of the office I was applying to. Both interviewers were very friendly, and mainly wanted to know what skills I thought would be most valuable and how I believed my previous experience would lend itself to this position.

Interview Details – I was applying for a student position at MIT. I was interviewed by a graduate who worked in cognitive science. I was in high school at the time and had no prior interview experience. I thought the whole experience was a bit awkward; we didn't find too much common ground to talk about.

Interview Details – I spoke with the supervisor while a fellow lab researcher listened in, and later the director of the lab group stopped by very briefly. They mostly asked me questions about my technical background based off of my submitted resume, and there was also a simple, open-ended question about the experimental problem the job entailed to assess my thoughts and approaches. Later, I was shown an experiment in progress similar to what I would be working on. The interview was mostly informational in nature, and took 30 minutes total.

Interview Details – It was an online application and telephone interview

Interview Details – Experience, management style, personality and past salary matter. Especially past salary.

Interview Details – I contacted my colleague for which a position was available in his department. I submitted my resume and cover letter via email. We spoke on the phone and set up a time to meet to discuss my desires. We then met t talk about my impending layoff and desire to transfer within the company. A second interview was then set up with him (the hiring manager) and the supervisor. It was pleasant, informative, congenial, and I felt I was a good match for the job. At the end of the interview, I was informed that a decision would be made within two weeks. This time had gone by, so I emailed my colleague to inquire about the status. He informed me that they were making an offer to another candidate, but if she didn't accept it I would be considered a finalist.

Interview Details – My interviewer was really nice and was very open to taking questions and talked about his own experience at MIT and how it helped him. The questions were interesting and thought provoking, so be sure to get a lot of sleep beforehand so as to be clear-thinking. He did take some notes as I talked.

Interview Details – I gave a 45 minute presentation on my current work, then met with 3 separate individuals for 1:1 interviews. The interviews were respectful give and takes where we had opportunity to discuss my work and the company's activities. The questions were appropriate and not terribly hard.

The HR department is very disorganized. I only had 2-day notice of my interview, and that a presentation was expected.

Interview Details – This was an internal referral, so I was interviewing with people I was mostly familiar with already. I was interviewed by one person and then he was joined by a colleague for the second half of the interview. The interview process was fairly casual in terms of attire and also how they approached asking me questions. They may have discussed questions in advance but it seemed like most questions were improvised. Most of the time they diverged from a written list of questions.

A few days later I was interviewed by a group ("the team") in a small office. There were 5 people present asking me questions and I didn't really know any of them. The group interview was not structured and was quite chaotic. I was able to ask them questions and found myself leading the interview at points. Later on it became more of a free for all when we got onto a hot button topic. I found the group trying to steer my responses in their direction (to their point of view) , I mostly agreed with them but chose to hold my ground. Based on their responses I realized that this position was not a good match. I later told the two main hiring managers that the position wasn't a good fit.

The Information Technology group there is interesting, the culture is fairly laid back and flexible. Many people work unusual schedules and are able to come in later and work later or work half days. Some people are able to work one day from home. This is a big part of why they're able to retain employees. The atmosphere is more artsy/newsroom than a Dilbert cube farm. People work hard but are still fairly chatty and they tend to congregate in the break room at lunch time. No one wears suits and very few people dress up. If you're wearing something nice, you either have a presentation or you're headed to a job interview. Overdressed people draw suspicion.