Optimal Solutions Group Interview Questions
& Process

The initial screening was pretty straightforward. Then there was a take-home assignment that was also quite simple. It seemed to focus mostly on assessing writing ability, especially since this was before LLMs became common, so it might be different now. The actual interview was uncomplicated as well.

An HR person set up the interview. I talked to two people, including the director/owner of the company, one after the other. The first person went over general stuff like behavioral questions and my research interests. The second person dove deep into my research, asking really specific questions that were kinda hard to answer since I wasn't expecting that level of detail. They never got back to me after the interviews. The people and the office seemed cool, though.

I applied online for a Research Analyst job even after seeing bad reviews. I got contacted quickly to schedule a first round phone interview. The phone interview was pretty standard and included a question about which Research Center I'd prefer. They said I'd hear back in about 2 weeks about coming in for a final in-person interview. I waited over 2 weeks with no word, so I reached out. No response. Another 2 weeks passed, and I sent a second email. Still nothing. I wasn't surprised, but a heads-up would've been nice. Update: Over 8 weeks later, I got a generic email saying they'd hired someone else.

Got a phone call to schedule an in-person interview about 2 weeks after submitting the application. I was interviewed by Mark Turner, president and CEO of the company. The interview lasted about 20 minutes. About four weeks after that interview, I got an email saying they had hired someone else.