I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at GSK (Ware, England) in Feb 2018
Interview
Had a chat about my personal interests and motivations first, then was given a lab tour by the current placement student where I was given the opportunity to ask questions about the job and general life in the area. Afterwards, I had the technical interview with several people where they asked specific questions requiring scientific knowledge. The whole thing took maybe 1 or 2 hours in total.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
General biochemistry questions, examples of times I used specific skills, general questions about myself.
Split into general interview and technical interview. Very standardized format where no follow-up questions are asked by interviews. General interview involves STAR questions. Technical interview consisted of testing job-specific knowledge.
Full assessment day with a technical and behavioural interview in the morning with two interviewers then a group interview in the afternoon with other student candidates and a panel of around 5 interviewers. For the second part they gave us a case study and observed how we interacted with each other to answer a scientific problem.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a pharmacokinetics graph in the context of drug discovery.
Interviewers were very friendly and welcoming, they guide you through until you get the right answer if you are unsure. They start by explaining the job, then ask typical STARR questions, then about 4 technical questions
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give us a time when you faced a challenge, how did you manage it?