I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Exponent (Los Angeles, CA) in Sept 2019
Interview
1st stage: Phone call with managing scientist
2nd stage: In-person lunch meeting with team
3rd stage: Formal full day interview, including a technical presentation and assessment
They're looking for young and unsuspecting PhDs who can be overworked and handle stressful deadlines. The work-load expectations would be 50+ hours a week and the key metric for success is based on billable hours. The one-on-one interview with the Principal Scientist was unpleasant; overall he was disinterested, rude, and defensive. Other one-on-one interviews were positive experiences. Overall, the interview process was a mixed-bag. It was clear that the work culture is unhealthy and they have poor leadership and management styles.
Initial interviews were straightforward, had call with hiring manager then video interview with another managing scientist. They asked about my CV, research experience and explained about the company structure. Did not advance after second round.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Can you explain more about (so-and-so resume bullet)?
Screening calls with employees at different levels. Then an all day interview that includes a technical talk. Present on things you did recently/know well enough during your technical talk so you can answer questions asked without saying you can’t answer because that work was 10 years ago. So sufficient research on the connection between your skill set and the work happening at Exponent in your practice of interest.
2 screening calls with folks at different levels in the practice of interest. Then full day interview with more people, mostly from the specific team you’ll be working with and a technical presentation. Biggest thing is to clearly articulate during the presentation how your background and interests fits in with the work going on at Exponent.
