Driscoll’s Interview Questions
& Process

The interview was pretty straightforward. Started with a phone screen, then a Teams meeting with my direct manager, followed by an in-person interview. After that, they did reference checks and then made an offer.

I had a single interview with the hiring manager and had to follow up multiple times to get any feedback. The feedback I received was very vague and didn't seem to have a clear basis for their decision. It felt like the whole process was pretty disorganized and lacked structure.

The interview was for a research scientist role in Mexico, but it was advertised globally. The whole process took about 4 months, which felt very slow. It seemed like there were communication issues between HR in Mexico and HQ in California, and decisions couldn't be made in Mexico without HQ approval. After several phone calls and an in-person interview in Mexico, there was a full day of interviews in California. About two weeks later, they made a job offer with a compensation package much lower than my current one. Driscoll's HR knew my current compensation but still went through numerous interviews, a trip to Mexico, and a trip to California, only to offer less. This was illogical and a waste of time. They offered a revised package about 10 days later, which was still not great and I declined again. A week after that, HR in Mexico said they wouldn't offer anything better, ending the process. The people seemed nice and welcoming, and the interview questions were mostly job-related. However, some scientists seemed frustrated with internal politics, though they didn't give details. My advice to management is to review and upgrade the hiring process and compensation packages if they want to attract qualified, internationally competitive scientists for their fast-expanding operations in Mexico. Otherwise, they won't compete well in the job market and will seem like a "cheap" company, making it unattractive. This hurts the company. In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend scientists apply here because the company seems chaotic, disorganized, and overly bureaucratic, at least in Mexico.

Applied online and got an email from the recruiter a couple weeks later asking for a few paragraphs about my interest and fit for the role. Then I had a recruiter phone call, followed by a call with the company's immigration contact about visa stuff. After that, a Skype interview with the hiring manager was scheduled, and then an on-site interview about a month and a half later. The on-site started with dinner with the hiring manager and R&D folks, then the next day was a full day of interviews from 8am to 4:15pm at the company labs. Started with the recruiter giving a tour of the HQ and then driving to Cassin Ranch for the labs. Met the hiring manager, got a lab tour, then gave a presentation to the R&D team with a Q&A. The scientists' questions were great and I felt comfortable. After the presentation, there was a panel interview, then lunch with more scientists, followed by two more panel interviews. I then met with the hiring manager again, and wrapped up with the recruiter. About 2.5 weeks later, the recruiter let me know they chose another candidate with more experience in the required techniques. The whole thing took about 4 months from the initial recruiter contact to the decision. Everyone was great, passionate scientists, enjoyed meeting them. Disappointed not to get the job, but enjoyed learning about the company and its values.