I applied online. I interviewed at AstraZeneca (Gaithersburg, MD)
Interview
Spent the whole day interviewing the team, only for the hiring manager to say I wasn't qualified based on my resume. They were looking for experience in one specific assay, which is something you could learn in an afternoon. Overall, a bizarre interview day. I had great conversations with management level and above, but the general attitude of the researchers I spoke with was strangely hostile and judgmental. Those conversations gave me an an impression that the company culture maybe wasn't healthy.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
General STAR-style questions. For example, tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult co-worker.
Regular QA questions about JD description, self introduction, daily work, challenges, career development in 5 years, expected team environment, strength and weakness. A lot of regular questionsA lot of regular questions
Standard fare in talking to people doing interviews showing off cv. the usual interview that is required to take a job. nothing out of the ordinary. everything you would expect
I applied online. I interviewed at AstraZeneca in Jan 2026
Interview
Interviews were very well organized and hiring manager was very communicative. However after interviewing in-person with the entire team (about 10-12 people for about 4 hours) I was ghosted. The director as they walked me out after interviewing said I would hear back either way in 1-2 weeks. That was three months ago. I almost expect to be ghosted if it was just a zoom interview, but it is disappointing they did not have the courtesy to say that I was not selected when they said I was one of the top candidates during my lengthy in-person interview. Everyone I interviewed with was nice and honest and happy to answer any of the questions I had. Due to both the good and bad, I gave the overall experience a neutral.
AstraZeneca interviews FAQs
Scientist applicants have rated the interview process at AstraZeneca with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 57% positive. To compare, the company-average is 60.1% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Scientist roles take an average of 52 days to get hired, when considering 49 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at AstraZeneca overall takes an average of 35 days.
Common stages of the interview process at AstraZeneca as a Scientist according to 49 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 26%
Group panel interview: 18%
One on one interview: 17%
Presentation: 11%
Skills test: 9%
Background check: 8%
Personality test: 7%
Drug test: 3%
IQ intelligence test: 2%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -