Three rounds of interviews: HR (phone screen), hiring manager (Teams), and an on-site interview. Overall, the interview process itself was fairly easy, and they mostly asked general questions. During the on-site interview, I met with multiple teams and individuals—the interview lasted about six hours.
The questions were pretty standard: Why do you want to work for the company? How would your experience benefit the team? Where do you see yourself in five years? What products does Ecolab make? There were no trick questions or anything particularly difficult.
Some red flags:
- After the HR interview, I waited two months to hear back from the hiring manager, and then another two months before the on-site interview was scheduled. Whenever I asked for updates, I often received no response, so I never knew whether they had moved forward with another candidate or if I was still being considered. In my opinion, this was very unprofessional.
- During my site visit, I spoke with some newer employees (less than two years with the company), and they seemed very enthusiastic. However, when I asked one employee whether he saw the impact of his work being translated into commercial products, he responded, "I don't know. I don't think we do anything important." That answer was surprising, to say the least.
- My on-site interview was not handled professionally. I had to drive about two hours each way, which I didn't mind, but I was never reimbursed for travel expenses. Lunch, snacks, or even water were never provided or offered. Fortunately, I brought my own water bottle.
- When I arrived, everyone was running behind schedule, so I was asked to sit in a waiting room and watch a safety video. I ended up waiting there for about 30 minutes, repeatedly watching the same video because it was set to autoplay.
- Throughout the interview, several senior scientists praised my background and experience. However, after the interview, I never heard back. They completely ghosted me and did not respond to my follow-up email. About a month later, I checked the application portal and saw that my status had been changed to "rejected." No email, no phone call, nothing. If I hadn't checked the portal myself, I would never have known the outcome.
I emailed both the hiring manager and HR asking for feedback and inquiring about travel reimbursement. Neither responded.
I've interviewed with many different companies, and this was by far the least professional experience I've had. Even if they had extended an offer, I don't think I would have accepted it after seeing how disengaged some of the employees were. If you have other options and are getting interviews elsewhere, I would recommend spending your time pursuing those opportunities instead.
