Meso Scale Diagnostics Research Associate Interview Questions
& Process

My experience with this company was awful. Their communication outside business hours was non-existent, which is weird, but their daytime communication was even worse. They messed up my travel arrangements initially, and it took me a few calls to fix it myself. They also forgot to arrange a shuttle for me from the hotel to the interview, despite me asking about it multiple times and being assured it was handled. Because of this, I was almost an hour late to what I thought was just a meeting to get placed in a group, not a technical interview. The interviews then went on for a non-stop 5.5 hours. Even lunch wasn't a break, as the interviewers used it to grill me further. After all this, I lost my phone, making email communication necessary for reimbursement. The reimbursement process was a nightmare; I emailed and called repeatedly with no response for a month. Finally, I connected with someone who informed me I didn't get the position, and they hadn't bothered to tell me. They also didn't apologize for any of the issues I faced, even when I suggested it would be polite to inform candidates of their status. Honestly, I'm glad I didn't get the job, given how poorly they managed their recruitment process. This whole thing happened two months ago, and seeing other negative reviews confirmed my feelings about the company's lack of respect for employees. It's not a place you'd want to work.

It was a pretty smooth process. First, I met with my direct leader who discussed the team and the company. After that, the real interview started. I had to present on a past project and explain how it fit the role. Then, I met with the team and answered some behavior-based questions. There were also some technical questions, but they were at the appropriate level for the role.

The interview process was really drawn out, taking more than three months from start to finish. Most of the people I interacted with were nice. It took about one to two months after the initial phone interview to get any feedback. I had to follow up via email twice before they scheduled an in-person interview. The interview itself lasted three hours, from 11 am to 2 pm, without a lunch break. I spoke with four different groups of people, and the discussions were engaging, suggesting they are doing good scientific work. It wasn't an overly difficult interview; it was more about understanding my background and explaining their work. They asked questions about how I would approach problems related to ELISA-type assays. At the end of the day, I met with an HR representative who said I'd hear back in a day or two. He was wrong about the timeline, as it took two to three weeks to get a preliminary offer. He asked if I would accept the proposed salary before it was officially approved. Apparently, all expenses at this 600-employee company require CEO approval, which can lead to delays of several weeks for offer approvals. I declined the offer because I found the company's inefficiency unacceptable and didn't want to discuss salary before a formal offer was even made. It's been over a month, and they still haven't reimbursed me for my interview expenses.