Was contacted for an initial phone screen by HR. When I got on the call, he had invited two hiring managers on the call as well who bombarded me with several technical questions...a bit of a surprise to say the least. The next step of my interview process was a 7 hour interview, in the middle of which, I delivered a 30 minute presentation about a past research project to the entire R&D department with a Q&A afterwards. It seemed like they do interesting work and have some invested people working there, however I got the impression they are a bit demanding on the work/life balance scale. About a week afterwards, I received an automated email from a noreply@___ email address informing me via a commonly used template that "While your qualifications were impressive, we decided to pursue other candidates....". The email still even had "We appreciate your interest in the 'insert job title' position" left unfilled. I was pretty disappointed that HR departments could be so disrepectful and lazy...especially considering how many candidates are struggling to find work amidst the pandemic. I should also mention I forwarded the automated reply email to the two HR reps I worked with an hour later telling them I was extremely disappointed this is how they are letting candidates know. One of them emailed me back letting me know the intention was to follow up with a personal email, but it rang pretty hollow to me, notably since the email had gone out 1.5 hours ago. I can't speak to what it's like working at Pfenex, but if you're contacted for a position, I'll say this. Consider if it's worth it to dedicate a day of interviewing and hours crafting a presentation to a company that won't grant you the time of day if you aren't selected for the role.

HR call first to talk about the position, interest and company, followed by manager to talk about technical stuff. Then it is a full-day interview. The interview is online due to covid