I was initially excited to hear from a Thermo recruiter requesting an interview (after I applied via the Thermo website). The interview itself was conducted via video conference, and consisted of my presentation (45min) followed by one-on-one interviews with five team members plus HR (over the course of three separate days). The multi-day interview format was a pain, but everyone was quite friendly and I felt the interviews went well. The first red flag (which I noticed after the interviews) was that several identical versions of the job description were posted on the Thermo website, each with a different title (from lower level scientist to senior manager). It was also quite difficult to discern from the hiring manager exactly what responsibilities they envisioned for the role (ex. would I be managing direct reports? If so, how many?). After the interview, the recruiter began calling once a week to see if I was still interested in the position. She occasionally mis-stated the job title in voicemails and it was not clear she knew for which position I had been interviewed. For the first two weeks, I was indeed still interested in the position and responded as such. However, after more than a month without any decision from the hiring manager, I assumed that I was not their top candidate and stopped returning the recruiter's calls. While it certainly makes sense to 'keep candidates warm' as you continue to interview others, I expected a much more prompt yes or no decision. The prolonged waiting really dampened my enthusiasm and made me wonder how long other routine tasks must take at this company. Some people might be fine waiting more than a month for a decision, but I personally found it frustrating to return recruiter calls each week (seemingly for no reason). I would expect a better candidate experience from such a large company, especially for positions requiring a Ph.D.

A phone interview and then a few zoom interviews. Was very professional, and fun experience. Made me feel very comfortable, and very interested in my background, personal and scientific, the interview lasted the whole day. I gave a one hour presentation.