Applied online then did face to face interview with 3 people. Included presentation at start on a successful project you did. Wanted to know answers to technical physics questions and general interview questions.

Full day assessment centre 1 hour interview The full day assessment centre involved team games, introductions to the company, and a quick-fire speed-dating style interview. As this began first thing in the morning, they paid expenses in full for a hotel and travel. Despite the long day, I did not learn much about what working at the company would be like. Potential employees of all strains were at this assessment, from sciences to business. The interview consisted of a panel of (IIRC) 5 interviewers who asked me to deliver a presentation about a project I had completed and asked me some questions about it, then more general engineering questions. While the questions were simple, I did not feel they reflected either what was on my CV or what the job seemed to require. Potential salary was unclear which was frustrating considering the high cost of living in the area. After some chasing, the travel costs for this were also repaid in full. Both days were in the midst of exam/dissertation season with no option for changing date. During the hiring process it was unclear which stage I was on and what was left. As there was no phone screening, there were many other people at the assessment centre: I imagine those who were not invited to interview felt frustrated that they had been filtered in such a time-intensive and impersonal manner. I am aware a very similar company spreads their hiring process over a longer period of time much earlier in the academic year. My most immediate thought about this process was that I had dedicated three days to it but only had around 75 minutes to actually directly interact with a hiring manager, or 15 minutes each. I felt like my time was not valued. Following this, I was not informed of my (now obvious) rejection and chose not to pursue the matter. All of the individuals I spoke to were welcoming and professional.