KLA Research Scientist Interview Questions
& Process

I had an online interview with the hiring manager, which was primarily technical. We mostly discussed my PhD research and previous work. The manager was very engaged and polite, effectively guiding my responses and encouraging deeper thought. He asked two prepared questions, but many of the questions were follow-ups based on my research and my answers during the interview.

The interview process was surprising and unpleasant. I was expecting a technical interview with some HR questions. I joined a Zoom call with two employees, a team lead and their superior. At the start, they told me the first 30 minutes were for me to talk about myself. I started talking about my background and PhD research. After 10 minutes, I asked if they had questions, but they just repeated that the time was for me. After another 10 minutes of me talking about my research and skills, I asked again if they had questions. They repeated again that this time was for me. After about 27 minutes of me talking with no questions from them, they stopped me and asked 'Is there a difference between science and engineering?' I answered, and they ended the interview, saying I'd hear back in two weeks. I never heard back, and about two months later, the candidate portal showed I was rejected. It was a terrible experience. If I had known they wanted me to talk for 30 minutes straight, I would've prepared slides.

The process started with a Skype interview where I had to give a presentation about my projects and background. Then, I had an in-person interview at their Milpitas, CA location. This included a 30-45 minute presentation on my PhD research, followed by five one-on-one interviews that were each about an hour long. Overall, the experience was pretty bad. The research presentation part was okay, despite some initial technical issues. But the one-on-one interviews felt like a total waste of time, and I left not knowing if I'd even fit in there. It also seemed like they wouldn't really know if I was a good fit either. One interviewer just talked randomly about projects and teams. Some interviewers acted like it was a quiz, asking mostly yes/no questions about my skills and background, and didn't let it be a discussion. One person had decent technical questions, but we ran out of time before we could really discuss them. The last interviewer seemed really tired and uninterested. To top it off, they didn't pay me back for my taxi costs, even though they said they would send a check. It's only $30, but it's the principle.