Illumina Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I had 2 panel interviews for this role, which lasted about an hour. They mostly asked about my past work experience and background. The interviews were pretty smooth and the panels were friendly. They really tried to dig into my skills but didn't criticize any mistakes I made or answers that weren't quite right. It felt like maybe my qualifications weren't what they were looking for, so I wasn't the right fit for them, but they didn't show that during the interview. They did ask about other companies in similar fields and why I chose Illumina over them.

The interview process was pretty quick. First, there was a phone interview, and then I had to fly in for an interview the very next day and a half. I didn't get the job, which was a bummer, and it felt like a lot of wasted effort, especially since the interview went really well and all my feedback was positive. What was more annoying was that it took about 50 days to get my plane ticket reimbursed by the company. I had to keep calling and reminding them because people kept messing up the amount, forgetting about it, or going on vacation without finishing. Eventually, they paid me back with six different bank reward cards that I can't use at the bank or ATM, which was the final straw. Why not just send a check or one card? I really wanted to work at Illumina at first and was super excited about the opportunity, but maybe it's for the best that it didn't work out.

After applying online, I got a call from HR about two weeks later. They didn't do a behavioral interview, but instead set up a 30-minute technical phone interview for the following week with the engineering manager. The interview included technical questions and some behavioral ones, though the technical questions weren't related to the job description.