Ionis Pharmaceuticals Interview Questions
& Process

I interviewed for a role here and had a good first chat with HR, then an interview with the hiring manager. The HR chat was good, but the hiring manager interview wasn't great. The manager seemed checked out, and I was surprised when they asked why I wanted to work for them. I said I liked the company's work. I was really interested in the job and company, but then I got ghosted. I sent a follow-up email two weeks later and again, nothing. I sent another email, still no response. I get that not everyone gets picked, but a simple email saying where things stood would've been nice. People put a lot of effort into interviews, sometimes taking time off work or juggling stuff to be ready. A quick reply or some feedback would've shown respect for that time. Being professional matters, especially when trying to get good people. I hope they get better at communicating with candidates going forward, it's a big part of a good experience.

Over a period of 4 months (May to August), I went through a really long interview process for the IT – Director G&A BRP role at Ionis. It was about 15 hours in total, spread across 15 different interview rounds, and two of those were with PwC. After all that, I got a standard rejection email a month after the interviews finished, even after I asked for updates. To make things even worse, they re-posted the job soon after, and then HR told me the position was canceled. It was a terrible experience!

This interview process was way too long, with 10 rounds, each lasting 45 minutes. They drilled down into every single detail on my resume, asking about my skills, knowledge, and decision-making for the full 45 minutes each time. It feels overly complicated if a company needs 10 people to decide. The recruiter said it went well and they liked me, but they needed someone with more experience, which they somehow missed during the resume screening and initial interviews. Chatting with the hiring manager and some interviewers was fine, but it was just draining.

The process was fast. I applied on their website and the next thing I knew, I was chatting with the hiring manager. Someone contacted me over the weekend and set up the interview time. Super well organized. Kudos to that. I know my schedule very detailed, names, titles and such of all panelists. The interview panels were good to great. I was unsure if I was addressing the questions correctly in many panels, but I communicated this concern with the hiring manager, clarified my experience and interest, etc. All up front. Next thing I knew I got an offer!