Illumina Interview Questions
& Process

The recruiter reached out to me first. He was great and responsive, but then they put me through 6 interviews and a writing test over several months. The feedback from all interviews was exceptionally positive. After a week of no news, they called in the evening saying they had decided to rescope the role and repost it. They assured me it was no fault of my own. Leaders I interviewed with were nice but didn’t seem to have a clear strategy for the team. There also seem to be some internal tensions and politics at play. It’s still a great company, but the internal chaos is something to keep in mind. I don’t think I’d consider a role there after this.

I had an initial call with the department manager where they asked general probing questions and checked my continued interest. A few days after that initial phone screen, I got an email to set up an in-person interview with some panels. When I arrived, I met with 3 different multi-person panels composed of Senior Engineers and Senior Technicians. They asked typical technical knowledge and personality questions for a technician role. The interviews were thorough but not unusual. Each panel session lasted half an hour, making the total interview time 1.5 hours. They offered me the job in under a week.

So, I had three interviews. The first two were with the hiring manager and a stakeholder, and those went pretty well, I think. They seemed like good people. But the last interview, with a team member, was a total mess. The person asking questions seemed a bit out of it, like they didn't even know Illumina has a subscription model, but then asked me to explain Illumina in an elevator pitch. They also rolled their eyes at one point. I have a feeling I didn't get the job because they just didn't vibe with me.

I interviewed for a Net New Business Sales Executive role at Illumin, but it was a bad experience because things were not clear or organized. I made it clear upfront that I'm not from Ad Tech and haven't worked with marketing agencies. This could have been seen in the first screening by the recruiter or hiring manager. But I went on anyway. Then, I found some issues: 1. The hiring manager didn't know the start date. 2. They didn't have budget approval to hire for the role. 3. They weren't prepared and asked me about my experience with marketing agencies and how many clients I could bring, which should have been obvious from my resume. This made it seem like they didn't review my application properly or it was just a formality. The recruiter later told me they hired someone from Ad Tech, which they could have figured out way earlier. It was a waste of time and could have been avoided if they screened better initially. For Illumin, they should improve their recruitment process and make sure recruiters and hiring managers are on the same page to give candidates a better experience and not waste time on roles that aren't really open or a good fit.