Michael Best & Friedrich Interview Questions
& Process

The whole thing took about a month. First, HR did a phone screen, then I talked to the hiring manager, and finally, I had a panel interview with some folks from the department. It wasn't like those typical interviews where they ask a bunch of "what if" questions. This one was more practical and had a good mix of questions about my personality and work ethic to see if I'd fit in, some technical stuff related to the job, and questions about what I've done and what I can do.

I met a patent engineer at a university career fair. She liked my resume and extracurriculars. A week later, I got an email inviting me to an interview night at their Madison location. It started with about 7 interviewees and 8 or 9 interviewers at a big conference table. Everyone had technical backgrounds, which was great. They explained the firm, then asked questions. It felt formal and intimidating initially, but then it relaxed. After that, each interviewee was taken to a small conference room and met by 4 different interviewers for 15-20 minutes each. I realized later that this short time didn't allow for much learning about each other. The interviewers seemed to ask similar questions. They were friendly, but sometimes small talk took up too much time. We all reconvened in the main conference room for refreshments. A final, informal Q&A session wrapped up the night. It was a pleasant experience, as long as the formal setting didn't scare you.

The HR person I spoke with was either socially awkward or just unfriendly. He asked one question that didn't make much sense for about 45 seconds. I did my best to answer it, maybe even chuckled a bit because it was poorly worded. He didn't seem happy with my response and made that pretty clear. From the start, he seemed hostile and like he'd rather be anywhere else, which is weird for HR. Then, he got visibly annoyed and said something like, 'Okay, I'll be direct: regarding that question I asked, what kind of career role are you seeking? What are your aspirations?' It totally caught me off guard – why wasn't it phrased that way initially? His communication was awful. This is the first time I'd consider declining a second interview or an offer based on the initial contact. To top it off, he didn't even say goodbye or wish me well, just stated I'd hear back in a few days, and then hung up after I thanked him. He really shouldn't be in a people-facing role.

I had a really good time interviewing with Michael Best. The recruiter was super responsive and gave me all the info I needed before my meeting. During the interview, the interviewers clearly had looked at my background and asked good questions, not just the basic ones. They told me about the timeline, and I heard back about my application in under a week after the interview.