I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Illumina (Cambridge, England) in Mar 2021
Interview
It was Easy to apply online. I got a short phone screen with HR. Then, fastly processed the first interview. There was one person, the leader of the group. Asked question on the technical side mostly. It was seem to be positive. But never informed on the result.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Statistical models
on VCF file about quality standards
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Illumina (Melbourne) in Jan 2024
Interview
Friendly and engaging conversation even though there was always emphasis on assessing technical skills. Focus was primarily on high level understanding of algorithms and implementation. The HR was proactive in following up and organise the non-technical rounds promptly.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
When is a random effect model appropriate?
What is the difference between state-space model and hierarchical model?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Illumina
Interview
The interview was pretty average (in difficulty terms), but most of the people I met with created a hostile environment - very much putting you to the test, rather than treating you as an equal. The phone interview, where you record yourself answering some preset questions was intense, but a very clever use of technology to pre-screen. The on-site interview consisted of a presentation followed by 1:1 meetings. In addition, they also did a technical interview, styled after software engineering tech interviews, with mostly basic CS and basic ML questions. Overall, the whole on-site day felt like an examination, rather than an interview.
