Spark Therapeutics Interview Questions
& Process

There were two interview rounds. The first one was with HR, and the second one was a panel of managers. A presentation was also required, followed by a Q&A session. It was a good overall experience, and the questions were reasonable. You should be prepared to talk about your interest in gene therapy and the company's pipeline.

I had a good phone call with HR on June 27th, 2023 where we talked about the job, benefits, and what they expect. Then on July 7th, 2023, I spoke with the hiring manager, who asked a lot about my past work. After that, I was scheduled for an onsite interview, but it ended up being seven 30-minute Zoom meetings back-to-back with short breaks, lasting from 9 am to 3:30 pm on August 4th, 2023. Some interviewers were nice, but some asked weird questions and were unclear about the job's challenges and first few months' expectations. HR said they'd update me in 3 days, but I had to ask for an update a week later. The day after my interview, the job was posted again with a 'senior' title, and then it vanished the next day. This makes me think they either hired someone internally who just wanted a better title or the job was already promised to someone with an internal referral. It felt like a waste of time and effort, and they seemed unsure about what they wanted. They could improve their hiring by not interviewing people who aren't a fit from the start, especially if they end up changing the role to 'senior' later. I'm actually glad it didn't work out because working with vague and inconsistent people would be tough.

So I went through 3 interviews in total. First, I talked to HR, where we just got to know each other, talked about my background and why I wanted the job. They also went over the company values, benefits, and stuff like that. Then I met with the hiring manager, and we went deeper into my technical skills, problem-solving, and how I could help the team. They also asked about my past experiences and how they fit the role. Finally, I met the rest of the team, which was cool to see how they work together and get a feel for the team culture. They asked some good questions and shared their own experiences. Overall, it was a good way to see if I was a good fit and to learn more about the company and the people.

I applied for a research scientist role and first had a call with HR for a phone screen. Then I spoke with the hiring manager. After that, I had an on-site interview with some team members, followed by a second, all-day panel interview and presentation with the whole team. There was about a week and a half between each step, and I heard nothing during those times. They asked for references after the four steps, and my references confirmed they were contacted. Nothing came of it though. Weeks later, my emails and calls to HR were ignored. The job was posted again a few weeks later, suggesting they were restarting the hiring process. A year later, a recruiter reached out about another position at Spark. He said he'd present my resume to the hiring manager and get back to me, but I never heard from him again. I tried to follow up via email and phone a week later, but he ghosted me completely.