I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Merck (Kenilworth, NJ) in Sep 2018
Interview
After applying online and a first phone interview with the hiring manager, within a week, I was invited for an on-site interview day. The day consisted of multiple (about 7) 1 on 1 interviews and a scientific presentation. I arrived a day ahead for dinner with part of the team and Merck provided stay overnight and transportation. The 1 on 1 interviews with group leaders and high level scientists were interesting and fun, talking mostly about previous experiences and discussing how I would see my contribution to this specific role at Merck. At the end of the day a final talk with the hiring manager, where was said that the hiring process would be finished by the end of next week, so there was clearly a hurry to hire someone. But instead of the promised week it took them 3 months to get back and they didn't respond to request on status updates from my side, even though previous contact had also been directly to the hiring manager. In the meanwhile I took another job offer, so the disappointment was not that big after they finally got back to me. Concluding, the aftermath of the interview was very poorly handled by Merck and that greatly influenced my overall experience with the company.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
How do you deal with uncertainties/unknowns in your work?
They were very nice. I liked the process and meeting the people in the team. They flew me to Rahway to give a 45 minute seminar followed by some panel-like interviews. However, I did not get the position and they never provided any feedback.
Recruiting process started with a resume screening by the recruiter, followed by an HR interview to discuss background and motivation. The next stage was a hiring manager interview focusing on research experience and project fit. The final stage was a full-day onsite interview that included a one-hour research seminar, technical discussions with team members, and several behavioral interviews with cross-functional stakeholders.
I received email directly from the hiring manager and had 30min initial interivew. They have asked questions like tell me about your crispr screen project. What in vivo techniques do you have? Why industry not academia? Finally questions for me.