I applied online. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at Merck (West Point, PA)
Interview
The overall process in one word would be described as - cumbersome.
First step was the online application(~15m), about 1.5 month turnaround to find out I progressed to the face to face round robin (5 person) interview. I was told someone would reach out to me to inform me of details, this never occurred. Interview team started late, when one person would exit the room, 10-15m later another would enter. Each person held a 30-60m interview (individually, each interviewer was well prepared and very easy to talk to). Interview lasted ~4-5hrs. I heard nothing for nearly 6 months, then while on vacation got a random call from HR. HR personnel followed up (2-3 days) with an email, this turnaround was consistent with every email I sent for negotiations. After I received an offer, negotiations took ~3-4 weeks, with what could have taken 1-1.5 weeks with appropriate response time (the dates written on each offer showed the document had been revised and made into a PDF the same days I replied to emails). All-in-all, the entire interview to job offer took nearly 6 months. During this time I went through several other phone screening and face to face interviews to offers, which had taken 1-3 weeks in comparison; from equally large global companies.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
-Run me through your resume
-How are you in an union environment
-How do you work under pressure
-How is your demeanor under pressure
-Name a time you had to pull team support for a project or to overcome an obstacle
-Name a time you had to lead a multi-departmental team
-How do you cope with off shift work?
-Tell me about yourself
-Why managing?
-Where do you see yourself in 5 years
-What do you do when you're not working?
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Merck
Interview
Very straightforward hiring process. Phone screening, a phone call with the hiring manager, a 5 panel interview via MS Teams. Total time from application to hire ~1 mo. Good experience overall. Very patient and prompt responses from HR recruitment agent.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
While assigning work for procedure and assigned technician expresses deep dissatisfaction with their assigned task and would like to work on something different. How would you handle this situation?
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Merck (Newark, NJ) in Dec 2021
Interview
Interviewed for a contract position. A recruiting company reached out, sent in my application, and got back to me within 2 weeks. From there, had first round phone interview with a manager on the team a week later, then a second round MS Team call with an HR rep and my potential supervisor. Very standard interview questions about my interest in the role, my background, and how I would manage the functions of the role (communication, time management, working with difficult vendors, etc.). All good untill the end. They told me I would hear back in a week but a week passes and nothing. Sent a follow-up to the pair I videochatted with and silence. Eventually got an email from the recruiter weeks later that they went with another candidate. It was a contract position so I am not surprised...
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
- What is something not on your resume that you would like us to know about you?
- How would you manage conflicting stakeholder expectations?
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Merck in Sept 2020
Interview
It was a very brief and efficient process, it was done virtually with 3 team members asking a variety of questions in random order. Overall the experience was good, but the multi-member panel reminded me of interviewing for acceptance into a fraternal organization.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why are you interested in this dept?
What are your strengths?
What are your Weaknesses?
Run us through your resume
Give an example you faced a complex problem and how did you resolve it?
How do you perform under pressure?
How do you compensate for your lack of experience in pharmaceuticals?
