Phastar Interview Questions
& Process

Went through two interviews, the first was with HR and the second was a technical discussion with the hiring manager. On the plus side, there was no stress interview, they paid full attention, were professional, and responded quickly. On the downside, I was rejected at the final stage without any feedback on how I performed, and the interview was too easy, which didn't let me fully showcase my knowledge and experience.

After applying and being shortlisted, I got an email asking if I was available for a screening call since there were other applicants. It took a bit before they responded after the screening call. Then, I was invited for a face-to-face interview at their office in Kenya. Before the interview, there was a presentation about the company, and the interviewers introduced themselves. After that, there was a group exercise with the other candidates, followed by the face-to-face interview where most questions were about my background and experience. Finally, there was a written test on SAS programming, covering common functions, data frame merging, and a flowchart question about my daily work preparation.

My overall experience was great (even though I didn't get an offer). I had a technical call first, where you speak with a Talent acquisition specialist and 2 of the Statisticians. We discussed about my work experience, asked a few technical questions but overall they just want to know what you have done as a Statistician so far (i.e. analysis-wise & study-wise). Don't stress out, just be honest. The second stage was harder; I had to take a 2h test (approx.). First you are given a paper to review and say what the authors did right & wrong in their analysis and whether you would evaluate their analysis as valid. Then they will give you a 5-page report of results to go through (from tables of descriptives to model estimates) and make notes on what errors you have spotted. I didn't do that well at that stage as I was quite stressed and felt that I needed more time, so I knew I wouldn't get an offer. They kindly provided their feedback along with their final decision, where apart from what you didn't pick up on the test, they pointed out my strengths which left a very positive aftertaste. Also, I was pleasantly surprised that my lack of experience in some aspects (e.g. CDISC/ADaM) due to my academic background was not an issue when most CROs/Pharma companies are seeking candidates with previous industry experience. Having confidence in a job candidate is what makes one want to work and apply for a position in companies like Phastar.

Applied and got contacted by a recruiter for availability, which took them two weeks to respond to. The first interview was with the recruiter for a company and position overview, and some background questions. Then I was set to meet with a senior statistician (who was the director of biostatistics for the US team) for a technical interview, followed by computer-based logic and English tests. The recruiter mentioned no SAS knowledge was required, but the logic test was entirely SAS questions, which was unexpected but manageable. The third interview was a group exercise, which was enjoyable. I noticed during research that the senior statistician leading the exercise was terminated for PhD fraud at a prior job. The fourth interview was again with the director, who barely asked questions and implied the job was mine, pending paperwork. Then, I was ghosted despite reaching out to both the director and recruiter. This whole process took over two months and four interviews, with significant delays and miscommunication about stages being the 'final interview'.