ImClone Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Aug 2009 in New York, NY (took 4 weeks)

A few weeks after submitting my application, I received a call from the hiring manager. Since I had applied to several positions at the company, I was unsure which position I was being considered for. I asked ref# of the position so I could get my bearings, and was given the number after a moment.

The phone call lasted about half an hour and covered what one would normally expect. I was asked about my current position and why I wanted to leave, what I expected from the new position, other past positions, specific skill sets, etc. I was told about the requirements of the new position and had an oportunity to ask questions. At the end, I was informed that I would be contacted to schedule an interview. Later I learned that there were about 80 applications for the position from which HR had picked 20 to present to the hiring manager. Of the 20, a select few were being called to make sure they could speak coherently, etc. I got the impression that there were 3-5 candidates interviewed in person.

I did not hear back from ImClone for almost 2 weeks. Others I spoke with were contacted within a few days to schedule an interview. I think it just depends on how quickly the position needs to be filled. I was given only two days notice to come in for an interview.

The interviews were held at their SoHo location. It consisted of seven interviews which were 30 minutes each without a real break in between. These are one on one interviews and can tend to be all over the place depending on the experience of the interviewer. The first interviewer was the hiring manager. This was the easiest since much of the details had already been discussed over the phone interview. It was pretty straightforward. All of the other interviews were with other senior scientists (the lab heads), except for one with the HR rep. The interviews ranged from just making small talk about personal interests (with interviewers who clearly had not even scanned my resume) to prepared behavioral questions.

Unfortunately, most of the individuals are not well-trained in the methods of effective interviewing. Some have clearly read some things online or maybe even an intro book on how to do it the way that everyone supposedly does it. So you'll get the "Tell me about yourself" and the "What if you had a very important deadline in two days and just realized that you screwed up your month-long experiment?" and of course "What's your greatest strength?". YAWN. Only one person actually tried to figure out what I actually know and what I'm capable of doing.

So be prepared for all those questions that you know are a waste of time and dread hearing because they only provide a false sense of your chance at succeeding. These people are reading the same websites you are, except about "Top Questions to Ask a Candidate During An Interview (and how they actually don't tell you jack)". The interview with HR was more straightforward. She did ask what my current salary was.

I was told that I would be informed of a decision in one week. i didn't heard from them. I contacted the hiring manager via email to let her know that I was still interested and inquired whether a decision had been made. No response. Rather unprofessional, but I suppose that's par for the course. I saw the listing removed in another week, so I had my final answer.

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Despite the interview format and the lack of respect in following up, ImClone seems like a nice place to work. I got the impression that it has a more academic feel than other biotech corporations. This is probably due to the small number of scientists at their NYC location (currently ~125), the small lab sizes (it seems like most labs have only 3-5 members) and the collaborative nature of most of the individuals there. There is currently a surge in hiring due to the Lilly acquisition and the upcoming move to the East River Biotech Park in summer 2010. Hopefully by 2011, there will be more biotech companies with research labs in Manhattan. Until then, ImClone is one of the few biotech research opportunities in the city, and they know it.