Merck Interview Questions
Updated May 27, 2022
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Offer Received?
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Found 1,103 of over 1,103.0 interviews
Popular
- Popular
- Most Recent
- Oldest First
- Easiest
- Most Difficult
Interviews at Merck
Experience
Positive70%
Negative13%
Neutral18%
Getting an Interview
Applied online55%
Campus Recruiting13%
Employee Referral12%
Difficulty
2.9
AverageHardAverageEasy
Interviews for Top Jobs at Merck
- Intern (61)
- Senior Scientist (43)
- Director (23)
- Pharmaceuticals Sales Representative (22)
- Associate Scientist (17)
- Internship (16)
- Sales Representative (16)
- Associate Director (16)
- Estagiário (15)
- Scientist (14)
- Manager (13)
- Engineer (13)
- Associate Specialist (11)
- Summer (10)
- Project Manager (10)
- Associate Specialist, Engineering (8)
- Process Engineer (8)
- Analyst (7)
- Summer Intern (7)
- Administrative Assistant (7)
- Operations Manager (7)
- Specialist (7)
- Postdoctoral Fellow (6)
- Senior Specialist (6)
- Principal Scientist (6)
- Bio-Process Technician (6)
- Research Scientist (6)
- Biotechnician (6)
- Associate Principal Scientist (5)
- Business Analyst (5)

Anonymous Interview Candidate
No Offer
Negative Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewI interviewed at Merck
I interviewed with two people. One was a good experience, the other .. not so much. I ended up not getting the job. Technical skills should be the forefront of an interview but not for whom I interviewed with.
Interview Questions
- One of the interviewers tested to see I was familiar with the company products and behavioral questions.
Be the first to find this interview helpful

Anonymous Employee
Accepted Offer
Neutral Experience
Easy Interview
Application
InterviewI interviewed at Merck
Interview process could be very long, depending on the urgency of hire. Normally 3 rounds of interview. People are nice and quite lay back. Company Culture is changing recently though.
Interview Questions
- Depends on the position you apply for.
Be the first to find this interview helpful
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Anonymous Employee
Accepted Offer
Positive Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI interviewed at Merck
The interview process was very straight forward.. There are three rounds (a. recruiter, b. hiring manager, c. panel interview). However, the entire process was a bit long since there was a hang up with HR.
Interview Questions
- Why Merck? Why do you want this role? How do you resolve conflict?
Be the first to find this interview helpful

Anonymous Employee
Accepted Offer
Positive Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI applied online. I interviewed at Merck
Its was an easy process. Easy to understand and help you focus and understand. The information is on the computer on what type of interview style they have. Amy was very informative and driven. She ask the questions and made you undersrnad the question
Be the first to find this interview helpful

Anonymous Interview Candidate
No Offer
Neutral Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI interviewed at Merck
One round of interview happened but didn't get selected. The entire process happened without any issue. Overall experience was good. Questions asked was relevant to the position applied. Looking forward to any future opportunities.
Interview Questions
- They focused primarily on communication skills.
Be the first to find this interview helpful

Anonymous Interview Candidate in Pittsburgh, PA
No Offer
Positive Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Merck (Pittsburgh, PA) in May 2022
The interview process was conducted in three sessions - 1st over the phone, 2nd via Webex, 3rd in person at corporate headquarters with 4 company employees present. Asked and made a formal 9 slide Powerpoint presentation.
Interview Questions
- What actions could I have taken in my last job that would have made my company more attractive and more competitive with others offering the same or a similar product?
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Anonymous Interview Candidate
No Offer
Positive Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI interviewed at Merck
They use a third-party recruitment company (“talent acquisition”) & unfortunately the recruiter I had was not the most organized. Their emails were informal & they relayed different interview times to both myself & the interviewer. That said, the hiring manager was also… frazzled. In a t-shirt & walking around the entire time. Also made me feel like it was my fault that the interview time he was told was incorrect. Was told I would receive confirmation about either proceeding with another interview to the next round or an email letting me know they would not be moving forward with me as a potential candidate. Nearly a month later & no response. Says a lot about the discombobulation within a department/company that is hiring that ghosts & blatantly ignores potential candidates. Gave me the vibe that they assume all interviewees must be desperate for a job. Did not feel like they valued my time whatsoever and wished they understood the concept that many people interviewing don’t necessarily need the job & may just want to explore their options. They also didn’t really do much to sell me on their organization. Very strange. Definitely steered me in the (right) direction of only applying to companies with their own in-house recruitment team.
Interview Questions
- Why weren’t you here on time?
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Anonymous Employee
Accepted Offer
Negative Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI interviewed at Merck
The interview consisted of mostly behavioral and some technical questions. The interviewer was very nice and personable. I did not have a ton of experience, but it did not negatively impact the interview
Interview Questions
- Tell me about a time when you solved a conflict
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Anonymous Employee
Accepted Offer
Negative Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI applied online. I interviewed at Merck
First interview was with Human Resources. Second interview with team was smooth. Spoke with about 3-4 people in the department. No presentation needed. Everyone was friendly. Heard back within a week.
Interview Questions
- Why are you looking for a career switch?
1 person found this interview helpful

Anonymous Employee
Accepted Offer
Positive Experience
Average Interview
Application
InterviewI applied online. I interviewed at Merck in Apr 2022
Very swift and pleasant interview process. I applied on the 28th of March through the company website, I received an email from a talent acquisition partner on April 4th, asking when I would be free for a quick call to discuss the role, and I spoke to them on the phone the same day for around half an hour. I was briefly asked what relevant experience I have that is fit for the role (not in too much detail, just an overall outline), why I have applied for the role, and I was given a short description of the role, as well as the hours that would be worked, and the starting salary. After this call, I received an email from one of the recruitment managers, with a link inviting me to an automated interview, where I had to record short videos of myself answering 3 questions (around 2-3 mins long, with limited number of recording attempts allowed), and two written answers. This was the stage where technical questions, specifically relevant to the role were asked, mainly asking me to describe in detail what previous experience I have that matches the role. After I submitted the automated interview, I received another email, inviting me to an online interview with two lab managers over microsoft teams, which took place on the 13th April, was scheduled for an hour but took around 40 mins. A series of competency and behavioral questions were asked, a more detailed outline of the role was given, and I was asked some housekeeping questions i.e. do I have a notice period/what holidays I have booked/when I could start if I were successful in the role. This was the first time I've ever done online interviews for a role like this, and the first time I applied for a role with several interview stages and was quite nervous, one top tip I have is to research possible interview questions previously asked for a similar role, and create a word document with what your answer would be to each potential question, as this helped me a lot.
Interview Questions
- Describe a time you had to make difficult decision.
- Describe a time you had to plan a project from scratch.
- Describe a time that you dealt with conflict or disagreed with someone's management style.
- Describe a time where you had to adjust your way/style of working in order to influence/impact a colleague.
- How do you deal with feedback/constructive criticism?
5 people found this interview helpful
Merck Interviews FAQs
Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Merck as 70.0% positive with a difficulty rating score of 2.91 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty). Candidates interviewing for Director and Pharmaceuticals Sales Representative rated their interviews as the hardest, whereas interviews for Senior Scientist and Intern roles were rated as the easiest.
The hiring process at Merck takes an average of 34 days when considering 1,036 user submitted interviews across all job titles. Candidates applying for Pharmaceuticals Sales Representative had the quickest hiring process (on average 31 days), whereas Director roles had the slowest hiring process (on average 63 days).
Common stages of the interview process at Merck according to 1,036 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone Interview: 20.95%
One on One Interview: 19.33%
Group Panel Interview: 14.99%
Drug Test: 10.17%
Background Check: 9.83%
Presentation: 8.51%
Skills Test: 6.51%
IQ Intelligence Test: 4.85%
Personality Test: 3.79%
Other: 1.06%