MD Anderson Cancer Center Interview Questions
& Process

The interview sequence was a bit unusual. It was with Data Impact & Governance Team. Round 1 – Screening Interview: Two interviewers, focused on background, ML lifecycle, and MLOps fundamentals. It went smoothly and was conversational. Round 2 – Panel Interview: Another technical panel with similar scope (ML lifecycle, data governance). Reasonable conversation. Recruiter Call #1: After the earlier rounds, the recruiter asked for salary expectations. The posted range had a large gap—roughly $75–80K between the low and high end. I gave a number closer to the higher end, as aligned with my experience. Round 3 – Interview with Hiring Manager: The manager said he just came back from PTO and seemed disengaged and uninterested; unclear if this was due to budget or other internal factors. Round 4 – System Design Interview: Conducted roughly two weeks after the hiring manager interview. This was the most technical round, covering system design for ML pipelines, deployment patterns, and governance. It went well overall. Recruiter Call #2: The next day, I got another unscheduled morning call from the same recruiter asking for salary expectations again—apparently she had misplaced her notes. Outcome: After that, there was no communication for nearly two months, until a generic rejection email arrived.

The interview process was straightforward and positive. I submitted my application online and was subsequently contacted via email for an initial phone interview. About a week after that, I advanced to the final in-person interview stage. The in-person interview felt very encouraging and friendly. Although they indicated I would hear back within two days, I never received a response.

There were three interviews in total. The first was with one staff member via Teams. The second was an in-person panel interview with 4 staff (two admins, 2 managing). The 3rd and final interview was via Teams with one staff member. From the day of applying to the final interview took a little over a month. My start date was about 3 weeks after accepting the offer, so the entire process moved pretty quickly. The team was great to meet and they asked very thoughtful questions. It was clear immediately that MDA cares deeply about who they bring onboard, which is to be appreciated. The questions themselves were not extremely difficult but what makes it difficult (depending on whether interviewing makes you nervous or not) is the 3 interview process.

The interview process is pretty straightforward. Typically, an HR representative will contact you first. Then, you'll proceed to an on-site interview with HR. If they are impressed with you, they will then extend an offer. There are no tricky questions. However, it's really important to come prepared with your own questions, especially if the job description wasn't very detailed. It's a good idea to inquire about the daily responsibilities within the department because EACH department has its own unique work culture that can be quite impactful.