Kite Pharma Interview Questions
& Process

The recruiter was very unprofessional. I had an initial conversation with the recruiter and was informed that I would advance to the next stage. However, after that, I was completely ignored, even though I followed up multiple times. It's truly disheartening to see a company operate with such interview practices and allow their recruiters to behave this way.

The whole interview process took three stages, with each stage about 3-5 days after the previous one. First up was a phone screening with the recruiter. They wanted me to go over my resume. If they thought I was a good fit, they set up a 30-min chat with the hiring manager, which was the second stage. My chat with the hiring manager went well. We mostly talked about my past experience and dug deep to show how much I know. The third stage was a bunch of interviews all on the same day via zoom. I talked to the people on the team I'd be joining, the head of the department, and the hiring manager again. Talking with the team members mostly involved going through my resume again and discussing soft skills. The interviews with the department head and the hiring manager (for the second time) focused on their management style and questions to figure out what kind of role I play on a team.

They told me there were three rounds. First, a phone screen with HR, then another phone screen with the hiring manager. After that, there were three one-hour interviews with different people on the hiring team. A week later, I went to their office for a meet and greet. It just ended there though. I didn't get why they had the meet and greet if they weren't going to hire me. It's fine if they decided not to hire me after all the interviews, but going silent after all that is just unprofessional and a waste of my time. The hiring manager even asked me to put other offers on hold while they finished interviewing me. Seriously?

The interview process was quite thorough, and I had the chance to meet with seven different team members. This gave me a good understanding of the company and allowed me to share my background. Everyone I interacted with, from recruiters to the hiring manager, was very welcoming. The process had three main parts: first, an interview with senior leadership (I had a brief chat with one of them at a career fair before), then an interview with the hiring manager, and finally, four 45-minute interviews with various team members. It all took about three weeks, and I got the offer the following week. They kept me updated throughout, so it was a positive experience overall.