I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Merck (Boston, MA)
Interview
I applied for the position from a posting online. I received an offer for a phone interview about ten days after I submitted my application and had the phone interview about a week after that. The phone interview was with two different Merck employees and was very low-key. They basically wanted to talk about the project and they invited me for an interview the following month. It was a one day interview -- I was in Boston for less than 24 hours. Communication with the administrative assistant before (and during) the interview was poor. My emails asking for a copy of my schedule went unanswered, and I didn't receive my schedule until I was already en route to Boston. When I arrived at Merck on the day of my interview, I was informed that my schedule had been changed but I never received a new copy of the schedule. Various things went wrong throughout the day as they had been poorly planned.
The actual interview was fairly strenuous. I had eight different one-on-one interviews scheduled right in a row and gave an hour-long talk to the department. I was even grilled during lunch. Everyone was relatively nice, but some of the interviewers wanted to play hard ball. My last interview ran until mid-afternoon, and I was immediately put into a cab after it was over and taken to the airport.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a time when you had to troubleshoot a problem during your graduate work.
I applied online. I interviewed at Merck (San Francisco, CA) in Feb 2026
Interview
When I applied I had emailed the hiring manager too. I applied around November, and heard back from hiring manager in January. It went well. Recruiter called me 2 weeks after that. And I immediately had to fill out the candidate questionare after that. A week later, someone contacted me to plan the on site interviews. It was actually 4 weeks from then because of other scientist's availability.
Onsite interview started with my research seminar. They asked a lot of questions, some a little difficult. But they were all very intelligent questions. Executive director and director of the department was present for the meeting. Then I had one on one meeting with senior scientists, principal scientists and the directors. Lunch with lab members and back to more one on one meetings. I enjoyed talking to them. They asked about some behavioral questions but mostly about my experiences and future plans. What are the skills I want to develop etc. at the end of the interview, the hiring manager asked me to send recommendations. And my advisor got a request a week later. And another week until I was selected (mostly because I followed up a lot because I received a competing offer).
The process is more rigorous and scientific rigor is appreciated. You will have a phone interview followed by on-site interview for a day or two. You will give technical seminar followed by one-on-one interviews.
It was just funny. Throughout the entire interview they kept talking non-stop and didn't give me much chance to speak. I mean, wasn't I the one being interviewed? Instead of asking me questions, he kept emphasizing how messy their data is, how unsolvable their problems are, and how boring the papers they want to publish are. Was this an interview or a discouragement session? Oh, I get it now, a postdoc salary around San Fran is only $75,000. Even he can't stand it, so he's trying to discourage me as an act of kindness. Man, it's really a good deed. I'm about to cry my eyes out.
