I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Merck in Oct 2010
Interview
Applied for the position online. Got a call from the recruiter about 2 weeks after I applied. Interviews were 1:1 - a mix of technical and behavioral questions. I had 13 interviews in total. There was a long pause of about 1 month between the first 11 interviews and the last 2 interviews. During this 'pause period', I got no information - go/no go from Merck despite repeated enquiries. I had started looking elsewhere before i was called for the last 2 interviews. I demanded to know when I will be notified of their decision after my final interview and they told me i will hear from them within 24 hours. i did hear from them; it was positive.
Overall, the recruitment process was rigorous and very detailed. Even after accepting the offer, i still had to go through a thorough background check and drug screen.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why Merck? Why do you want to join us instead of another big pharma?
First there was a 30 minute call with recruiter who reviewed my experience and outlined what to expect in next steps if selected to move forward.
Was scheduled to move forward which consisted of a 30 minute five person panel with the team. Questions included experience and situational/behavioral questions.
Giving a negative/thumbs down on the experience because there was a preferred internal candidate all along so it was a waste of time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Take me back through your resume and describe your experience and how it applies to this role.
Hiring manager reached out and coordinated the full process. No contact with a recruiter / HR throughout. I thought that was interesting and created a stronger relationship. However, after the hiring manager arranged all the interviews including 2 panels, a 1-1 and a take-home presentation / analysis, I proceeded through all of them and then was ghosted. After so many hours of meetings and preparation, I was surprised there was no feedback, either positive or negative. I would have been fine with a rejection and a brief sentence or two of feedback considering the journey I've made and the fact that it was with a hiring manager, not HR / recruiting who I'm sure fields hundreds of such emails a day.
had 3 series of interviews with panels. 1 HR interview. the onboarding process was not great, it was very disorganized. Did not find HR to be helpful, very bureaucratic organization overall. good benefits but not enough health/dental.
