Agency for Science, Technology and Research Research Associate interviews, decoded.

The interview process was pretty quick. One of the interviewers didn't show up. I had to do a presentation of a sample project, which involved a live demo. It was mainly just questions and answers about me, my background, and how I found out about the job.

I had just submitted my PhD thesis at a university in Singapore and was looking for employment. I found an opening at an A*Star institute on their website and emailed them with my details and documents. I then had a meeting with the Principal Investigator (PI) who had the opening, which was for a short-term project they were initiating. The PI asked me about my PhD thesis, my interests, and my skills. I also asked some questions to understand the project better. A couple of weeks later, I had a formal interview with the PI I'd met initially, another PI, and an HR representative. They asked more questions about my past academic and work history, along with standard HR questions.

They asked about my background and gave a quick rundown of the project. The supervisor was super reassuring, explaining the job scope and the project timeline. They also mentioned flexibility based on my interests.