New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Research Scientist Interview Questions
& Process

It wasn't too difficult. The interview lasted about an hour and had 3 interviewers. A lot of the questions were 2 to 3 parts. It was pretty standard, but they asked me about different scenarios and how I would handle them.

I applied for three research scientist positions in different departments. The interview process varied between departments, with some being more organized than others. After applying online, I was contacted within two weeks. For two of the positions, the process included a phone interview followed by a one-on-one interview, and then a panel interview. The third position only involved a panel interview. One position had a quick turnaround, with the whole process taking 4 weeks and timely updates on my application status. For another position, the hiring manager was 30 minutes late for the interview, seemed unsure about the role's future, and repeatedly asked for work samples. Communication was also very slow, with long delays in getting replies to my questions. When I finally received an invitation for a panel interview, I sent my availability but heard nothing back, so I decided to stop pursuing that opportunity due to its disorganization, which took 3 months. For the last position, I had to follow up on my application status after the panel interview as I hadn't heard anything. The interview itself was standard, asking me to describe my experience and answering related questions.

I applied for a job and they emailed me about a different role, similar level. Before the in person interview, I had to submit an R script of a past analysis and a writing sample. The interview was over zoom with the whole team and lasted about 90 minutes. They asked competency and soft skills questions. The interview itself was fair, just long, and the interviewers were nice. About 3 months later, I got an offer, but there was a lot of paperwork and proof of education/employment needed (you have to pay up to $300 for degree verification and get a letter from a former employer proving at least a year of full-time work). HR ignored my questions about the documents for a month, then one of the team members checked in on my admin work. I was told my start date could take months even after submitting everything. So I turned down the offer and took a job elsewhere. The whole thing from interview to offer rejection took 6 months. I really wanted to work there, but the HR and admin process was too much and they were rude when I asked basic questions.