Massachusetts Medical Society Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was really straightforward and everyone was friendly. I went through a total of 5 rounds. There were 4 phone/screen share interviews and 2 in-person panel interviews. They asked questions about algorithms, string manipulation, and problem solving. It was a pretty relaxed and easy-going environment. The interviewers also asked about my career objectives to make sure the role would be a good fit for me. After the interviews, the company did a strict background check.

I applied for a sr. graphic designer role and was invited for an interview. I first met with HR, and then met two women for the main interview. One seemed nice, but the other was very cold and seemed to look down on me. The interview went sour when I admitted I didn't own a Mac, and she became openly disdainful, even insulting my work. This was strange since she was supposed to have reviewed my portfolio beforehand. After this, they let me look at their marketing materials, which looked dated. The interview ended quickly, and I knew I wouldn't get the job. I sent thank you emails but received no response.

The HR recruiter was friendly and set up the first phone interview very quickly after I submitted my application for the job. I didn't feel as if the phone interview went incredibly well as it was mostly the recruiter talking about NEJM, which was really informative, but it did feel like I had to work to find room to talk about my experience in the field of scholarly publishing and how it applied to the position. I did follow-up with the recruiter about a week after the phone screening to see if I was still in the running, and I was, so I was set up for a video call with the Director of Manuscript Editing. The director was very welcoming and very informative about the editorial processes at the Journal, which was really neat, but again, it felt more like NEJM was pitching themselves a lot, and it was just difficult to get a word in about how I would be a good fit for the Journal. I was sent an editing test after my interview with the director and given 24 hours to complete it -- it was a little tricky, but nothing that felt particularly difficult, editing-wise. I spent a good amount of time on it to make sure it was great. After sending it back, it was radio silence for about 2 weeks, so I emailed the HR recruiter to see if I was still in the running as I had other publications/agencies reaching back out to me for interviews. There was no reply, so I emailed HR again a week after that (3 weeks after completing the second interview and the editing test), and the recruiter was very swift in their reply that they had moved on to considering other candidates for the position, even though my application was strong. I thanked the recruiter for their time. Also: I believe the job was reposted once or twice during the interview process. Take-aways: it was really exciting to get interest from such a big publication that typically only hires local candidates and is kind of known, like other journals of this caliber, to be something of an 'ivory tower.' I believe I was told something like 90% of NEJM's staff are still in Boston metro, with I believe all management positions still being local, so it seems maybe the Journal isn't as open to hiring remote employees as advertised, particularly in management. I've noticed this trend at other peer-reviewed journals that are prestigious institutions like JAMA, etc, which I think is kind of unfortunate since so many scholarly publications are opening their doors to remote-only candidates. Ultimately, the interview process was really informative for this field of scholarly/medical publishing, all parties at the Journal I spoke with were super friendly, and it was very edifying to hear a little bit about their editorial processes and the kind of content they've been publishing during the pandemic. It's always worth it to try for the best, even if it's a 'no' in the end.

I had a phone screen with the hiring manager, then I went for an in-person interview where I met with 3 stakeholders for about 30 minutes each. They were all really professional and nice. About two days later, I got an offer letter and they wanted me to quit my job and be ready to start in two weeks. I did that. Then, there was a re-org and the new VP cut the funding for the position. I was told the Wednesday before I was supposed to start that they were taking back the offer. This left me unemployed, which was unbelievable, unethical, and immoral. They did this. I can't forgive them.