I interviewed at Pharmaron (Hoddesdon, East of England, England)
Interview
3-4 technical interviews, a presentation, and HR interview in one day. A site tour, lab tour, and plant tour. Not too difficult if you know chemistry. Can be challenging if you’re used to generic questions “tell about time when…”
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
An API retrosynthesis: propose ways to make the molecule.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Pharmaron (Hoddesdon, East of England, England) in Sept 2020
Interview
I upload my CV to a repository; subsequently, I was approached by an external recruiter for a screening interview. After passing the screening interview, I was invited to an on-site interview. This was scheduled within three weeks after the initial screening interview. The onsite interview was composed of an HR interview, a presentation of my past research, and four rounds of technical interviews with different interviewers. Overall, each stage of the process was well structured. Very positive was the fact that each of the interviewers was looking for an ability to think. Memorizing is not going to help you much in this process. However, if you can maintain a reasonable conversation about synthetic organic chemistry, you will do fine during the interview.
In summary, I was pleased to find out that in Pharmaron, it matters what you know and how you can use your knowledge.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Some mechanistic questions on Heck reaction, bromonium ions. Furthermore, retrosynthesis, synthesis of heterocycles and enantioselective synthesis.
