Conagen Interview Questions
& Process

I had a phone screening. They asked me questions about my resume and research experience. I mentioned I'm still in school and not looking to start right away, and the interviewer got audibly irritated. The rest of the screening felt like an obligation, and then at the end, they told me *I* needed to follow up if I was still interested.

I initially submitted my CV and three references to their HR email. About a week later, I got an email for a phone interview, which I scheduled for a few days out. The day after the phone interview, they sent an invitation for an on-site interview the following week. I arrived for a 10 am presentation about my PhD research to the research group, where they asked questions throughout. Afterwards, I had 1-on-1 interviews with three people, two of whom I would report to directly. My host then gave me a tour of the facilities, followed by lunch with three other people. I felt like the interview went well, but suspected I was overqualified as they sought BS or MS candidates with experience, and I lacked the desired analytical experience (HPLC, FPLC, GC/MS) compared to my molecular/genetic background. I never heard back, and didn't follow up due to the commute.

I had an on-site interview which included a 30-minute presentation on my past work. After that, I had lunch with some people from the company. Then, I met with four different teams, each with three interviewers, for 30 minutes each. The whole thing was a full-day interview, starting around 10:45 am and ending at 4 pm. It felt exhausting because it was so long and many people asked pretty much the same questions. While I think the process could be improved a bit, it was a fair way to get to know me better.

The interview process was easy and the people who interviewed me were nice. They were really easy to speak to and very personable. This was before covid so the interviewing process was extremely different than it is now.