Elsevier Interview Questions
& Process

So, the interview process had two parts. First off, there was this general chat, mostly to get a feel for my background, what I've done, and generally how I tackle work. It was pretty chill and helped them understand my context for the role. Then, the second part was a more formal behavioural interview with a panel. They asked me specific questions about past situations, like how I dealt with stuff, examples of solving problems, managing people, and getting things delivered. My advice for anyone prepping is to keep your answers straightforward and structured. Back up what you say with actual examples from your work; it makes your points more solid and shows you know your stuff. Talking about how you tackled a problem, what you did, and what happened in the end really makes an impact.

Had an initial introductory call with the recruiter, but it was pretty unprofessional. The recruiter was 15 minutes late and kept cutting me off, hardly paying attention to my work experience and not asking any good questions. They seemed eager to wrap up the call and didn't even allow me to ask any questions about the role, the team, or the company. They never followed up, which really made me not want to apply to any of their roles again. Super unprofessional recruitment usually means the work environment is also super unprofessional.

So I interviewed with Elsevier and a sister company LexisNexis a couple times. The roles never seemed really clear or consistent with the job description. They have roles that stay up for months, even when they have people in the final stages already, which makes it seem like they're just building a candidate pipeline instead of needing to hire someone right away. The feedback I got was super vague and not really helpful, like they just repeated what I already said I wanted to work on. Talking about salary felt weird, and it seemed like they wanted people who would accept really low offers. It felt like they were looking for desperate candidates rather than a good mutual fit. You know, treat these interviews as practice, you might learn something, but don't expect much to come of it given how long jobs stay open and how off the descriptions can be. Management should be upfront about salaries and whether roles are for immediate hiring or just talent pooling. Also, close old postings and give real feedback.

The hiring manager seemed more interested in my current organization than me, which felt like a red flag later on. After about a week of following up with talent acquisition, they said I did 'exceptionally well,' which was surprising feedback. I got my hopes up, but for weeks, my application was put on hold every time I followed up. After a month, it was clear they weren't going to hire me and were just stringing me along. The TA person eventually admitted this. I asked for more feedback via email about what went wrong, but they never responded. The job was posted for a long time, suggesting they might have been looking for a unicorn or leading candidates on until they found someone willing to accept low pay. This situation reflects poorly on the company culture, especially since they were recently awarded 'Great Place to Work.' If you're applying to the content development team in India, be prepared for a similar experience.