Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Senior Researcher Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Jan 2012 in Porto, Oporto (Portugal) (took a day)

When I discovered the opening for a senior researcher, I immediately called up Fraunhofer AICOS to know about the salary range and to find out if it would make sense to spend time collecting all the information that required and writing up an application. They were very friendly and although I they didn't give me any exact figures, I got some rough numbers (relatively attractive salary) and decided to move forward.

The requirements for the position where quite high: PhD, experience from industry -- preferably in research oriented projects, team management experience and project management experience. On top of that two letters of recommendation were necessary. I compiled everything and sent my application. I got a confirmation three days later and I was called for an interview a couple of weeks later.

I was interviewed by the R&D group leader and by a senior researcher. The interview was relatively informal and took around 90 minutes. For the first 15 minutes, a short presentation of Fraunhofer was made (nothing new for anyone who has done their research before attending the interview) and then I was asked to describe myself and my experience. A discussion on technology and potential markets for their research followed.

I was informed that they were in fact hiring four people and that it would be a two-step process. A second interview would take place with the director of the center during the coming week. Towards the end of the interview, I was also informed, much to my surprise, that anyone hired would not get a regular contract to start off with. Instead, Fraunhofer required that new hires accepted a post doctoral grant (it is much cheaper for the institute to hire staff that way because no social security is paid and they have no obligations if they would choose to terminate the contract) for six months and only afterwards would they offer contracts to the candidates that receive positive evaluations. Thus, candidates would need to accept a much lower salary and zero benefits for the first six month without any guarantee of a contract afterwards. Not something that I wanted to leave my current, stable job and relocate for!

The place seems nice. The people seem friendly. However, if you apply for a position as a senior researcher, be prepared to accept what essentially is an internship before being hired on a regular employment contract. I wish that Fraunhofer AICOS had been more open about that practice. It would have saved me the time it took to compile all the documents necessary for the application and the day-trip to their facilities.