Cytel Inc Interview Questions
& Process

I went through 3 interview rounds with Cytel for a senior data-focused position. The first HR interview went okay, and about a week later I was set up for a second interview with a senior technical person in another state. Although that conversation went well, I was surprised to find out the interviewer didn’t know Cytel had an office in MA — which made me wonder about their internal communication. A week later, I had a third interview with an even more senior person. The technical discussion was good, but I was told directly that I might be overqualified for the role, and that they would decide later. That comment made the process feel like it could have been avoided: my CV clearly shows my experience, and that assessment could have been made way before scheduling multiple rounds. Every interview needs time-consuming prep — technical prep, company research, interviewer research — and none of that was respected here. I didn’t get anything out of this boring process, and the experience left me with the feeling of a messy hiring flow that doesn’t care about candidates’ time. In the end, I’m glad I’m not joining the company.

Applied through the company website. The first step was a screening call where they asked standard questions to understand my background. It was a nice chat, but they used an unusual platform called "Filtered" which was awkward and had some invasive AI features, unlike Teams. The second stage involved an "online assessment," essentially an AI interview on Filtered. I decided not to proceed with this, as I believe if a company doesn't prioritize having a human speak to candidates, it shows a lack of regard for recruiting. There were supposed to be more steps after the AI interview, making the whole process quite inefficient.

The interview process started with a phone screen with a recruiter, followed by a video interview with the hiring manager. Then, there were two more video interviews with other proposal managers. Overall, it was a good experience talking to the Cytel employees; they were nice and gave good insights into the job and company. The talks mainly focused on the day-to-day duties of the role and how my past experience would fit those responsibilities. There were very few behavioral questions, mostly technical ones about budgeting, clinical trial knowledge, and Excel.

I applied for a full-time role, and the process included an initial screening using a .Ai tool, followed by a first round with Cytel, and a final round with the client. My experience spans various therapeutic areas such as oncology, neuroscience, hematology, immunology, and diabetes, across phases 1 to 3. My responsibilities included creating and quality checking SDTM datasets, ADaM datasets, and TLFs. I also have experience in creating and validating specifications. I've led two study projects and have experience with the submission part, including creating Define.xml, and some experience with clinical reviewer guides. I provide technical expertise in designing, developing, and validating regulatory submissions of clinical trial data in CDISC format, covering SDTM, ADaM, Define.xml, SDRG, ADRG, aCRF, and P21 checks.