Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation Interview Questions
& Process

Applied online and after a couple of weeks was contacted by hiring manager. Had a brief phone chat, then a three person Skype interview the next week. Was then invited onsite, which took place 2.5 weeks later. Onsite interview was a full day, starting with a 1 hour seminar. That was followed by a 30 min technical session involving finding an observed byproduct given the starting material and reaction conditions. Rest of the day involved 30 min meetings with 1, 2 , or 3 of the discovery chemistry team members at a time. Questions focused on my research and a lot of behavioral questions, with a special interest in how I've innovated in the past and how I work in teams. Didn't get an offer, but overall enjoyed my visit. Everyone was nice and GNF seems like a great place to work.

I applied on the Novarits Career website and within a week I received an email from an administrative assistant asking if I was still interested in the position and for possible times I would be available to come in for an interview. I replied and received an email with an interview schedule. My interview was 2 hours long and I was interviewed by the hiring manager, the lab director, an HR rep, and several lab members. Questions were generally about my previous research and work experience, and a few about my intended goals with the company. I had very few of the typical interview questions asked, except by the HR rep, who asked a couple. A few days after my interview I was contacted by HR and told there was a positive response to my interview, and was given a verbal offer from the director of the lab.

I applied through a referral and had an initial one-hour phone interview with the hiring manager, followed by a full interview day. The overall process was quite organized, with different team members asking specific questions to evaluate my personality and skills. I received the offer about a week after the interviews.

The process was great. The phone interview included some technical questions about working in a lab, covering general reactivates of acids and bases and also common workup procedures. After in the in person interview they asked questions about my experience from my resume. All in all a great comfortable interview.