- With HR, Office Manager and relevant manager - They will have your resume / CV printed and will be directly referring to it during the interview (does not seem prepared for the interview) - Nice and friendly atmosphere - Questions were not too hard
I applied online. I interviewed at MDPI AG (Manchester, England) in Mar 2026
Interview
Submit CV and cover letter. After this, invited to an initial phone interview with HR. Next, I asked to a second interview with the same HR person and a manager on the team I'd be working on. In advance of this second interview, I had to complete a task which involved selecting keywords and reviewers for two research papers. I didn't get through this stage, but was told that after this there would be a third and final interview which would include more senior management from China.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
At the first interview, I was asked to describe how my experience led me to the role, what I understood about the role (need to provide a detailed description of what I thought the job would involved, and also I was asked about MDPI company values and how they aligned with my values. At the second, I was asked what the con was to open access.
Will write one article in English and answer questions for 1 hour. It should be related to science topics, depending on the hiring manager. After that, you will get an HR call about whether you are selected for the next round,
I applied online. I interviewed at MDPI AG (Basel) in May 2025
Interview
Overall not very professional.
Applied mid-April 2025, got first HR interview mid-May. First interview was very pleasant, very normal questions (background and motivation). It was with the HR from Basel. Got a second interview with Editors from China, they didn't show up. I then had to ask for another date and 1 week later got the interview. They asked more situational questions, and some weird questions (you're not Swiss, why do you want to stay in Switzerland, did you apply to any other position than this one). They are not the person that will mentor you, so not sure why they interviewed me. Didn't got a third in person round.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Round 1 questions
- Present yourself, what is your background
- What is an assistant editor role according to you?
- Are you willing to relocate to Basel?
- Explain a situation where you had to coordinate collaborations, what was the outcome of the project?
- Explain a situation that was stressful, how did you manage it?
- What MDPI journal would you want to be editor of?
- How do you deal with deadlines?
- What would you like MDPI to bring you?
Round 2 questions
- Introduce yourself
- Explain Assistant editor
- Why do you want this role
- What is your opinion on open access?
- What motivate you to do your job every day?
- Why do you want to work in Switzerland (and not go back to your country)?
- Do you not want to work in a lab anymore?
- Are you applying to other jobs?
- Do you have experience collaborating?
- Is it ok that your mentor will be from China, your meetings will be mostly over zoom.
- What are you expecting from a job?
- How do you see an assistant editor (they meant the quality that one should have)
- Job might be boring, have to follow the procedure, how do you deal with this
- What aspect of the assistant editor position interest you the most?