I applied online. I interviewed at AbbVie (South San Francisco, CA) in Jul 2025
Interview
took 3 months to get to final round, overall a bit slow but straightforward. phone screen, hm video call, then on site. everyone was polite and nice. some interviewers felt pretty unprepared.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you had a disagreement with a coworker and how you resolved it
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at AbbVie in May 2026
Interview
Very standard interview, if you know what you did in your PhD then you should be able to answer all the questions. Behavioral was also very standard with STAR-based questions.
Extremely unprofessional. I had 10+ years experience in the field, an internal referral, and I had previously interviewed with them onsite and had a positive experience with them for a contract role (ended up not getting offer for that one because I was overqualified). Initial phone interview with recruiter went well and I was scheduled for a full day virtual interview where I presented my work, and met 1-on-1 with 3 separate directors. Overall it was a positive experience, the hiring manager seemed impressed with my work and thought I was a good fit. I thought I would likely hear a response soon. I was wrong, 2 months go by, and I hear nothing. I hear from a separate source that they were on the fence about me because I am not a "chemist". I have an interdisciplinary background in biology, engineering, and chemistry, but my degrees and training are not strictly "chemistry", These issues were never brought up to me during my interview, and the chemistry I am familiar with (worked one extensively and published on) is extremely relevant to the position. Finally, I receive a generic rejection email from the job portal. I sent a nice follow up email thanking them for the experience, asking if they are able to provide any feedback, or if I wasn't a good fit for this role, what roles I should be targeting. Never heard back and probably never will.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is the amount of reagent you use for this reaction? (I think they were trying to test my chemistry knowledge or didn't think I had done a reaction myself before, when I clearly had. Should have been my first red flag.)