Science & Technology Interview Questions & Answers

My interview lasted for 1h 15mins on the phone. This time comprised mainly of six different sets of competency questions assessing e.g. team work, leadership, creativity and ability to deal with difficult situations and people. The woman on the phone was rather nice, however she had to push me a lot for more detail in some of my answers. I had prepared answers to expected topics, however the questions I got combined several of these competencies, making it difficult to come up with a good thorough answer on the spot. The remainder of the interview dealt with my knowledge of the company, especially their competitors and products.

Describe a situation where you have had to make a difficult decision quickly and where you have demonstrated ability convince others of your views and decisions.

Be confident, speak loud and clearly and be lively, try to smile whilst talking on the phone as if you were talking to a person in front of you. Your voice can make a big difference. Stop to think if you need time.

I did not get through to the assessment centre stage

I submitted an application for the position via the NHS jobs website, I later received an email inviting me to attend an interview at the hospital pathology department. The interview was at 9am and lasted for 30 minutes.

The interviewers were the Laboratory Medicine Ops Manager and the Chief Biomedical Scientist of the Histology department.
I was firstly asked to confirm my I.D by providing a drivers license and proof of address. There was an initial chat about my application, and discussion of how I had used my time at university and about the relevant work experience that I already had. I was then asked questions about why I wanted the job, and why I believed I was a good fit for the job. In addition I was also asked about my understanding of data confidentiality and about health and safety and risk assessments. We also discussed support that would be available for career development, and for relocation.

After this, I was asked to submit a handwriting sample, and was also given some basic maths problems to solve with no time restrictions.

I was then given a tour of the lab by a member of staff, who had previously held the role I was applying for which gave me ample opportunity to ask more questions about the job role.

What qualities do you have that make you a good fit for the position?

If going for a pathology based role, be prepared to answer questions on what you understand by data confidentiality and about health and safety risks.

I would also ask if you can have a tour of the lab, if they don't offer it in the beginning. This can give you a greater perspective of what the job role entails, and it gives you a chance to be reminded to raise more job specific questions about your daily working tasks.

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Normally, the assessment days are held at Worthing, outskirts of Brighton. However, NETBuilder managed to book a conference room with Manchester University, thus the assessment day was held in Manchester for practical reasons. However, they were not clear on the directions to the assessment centre as myself along with another candidate were pointed to the wrong building! Both of us spent wondering the wrong building for 10 minutes before one of the staff members told us we were in the wrong building! (Both of us happened to get pointed to the wrong building when asking people for directions). We arrived there 10 minutes late but we weren't the only ones late as more candidate kept turning up.
After the introduction of NETBuilder we were asked to take a Java test. Now, I don't know about you but I never learnt Java so I was at an disadvantageous position, a long with other candidates. I had to learn the basics Java in 1 day to even stand a chance against the other candidates who already knew Java!
After the test, we were handed booklets of tasks to be completed throughout the day. There were around 19 tasks in total, we had to organise the time for lunch and slot in 2 sets of 15 minutes interviews (Technical and 'Business') when organising the tasks. The tasks ranged from taking a group photo, creating a website, making a NETBuilder anthem etc. It wasn't too difficult but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting (Considering this was my first ever assessment day!). We managed to complete all of the tasks surprisingly although there were 20 candidates in the room (2 candidates dropped out for various reasons). After the tasks were completed, we had to do a presentation on what tasks we completed. After the presentation the day was completed.
We were meant to have the CEO of NETBUilder talking to us but he never came, we don't know why but he just never turned up! We were given laptops for the tasks but they lacked the required programmes for the tasks that I was conducting! We needed Windows Movie Maker or a similar programme but we couldn't download it! It was lucky that another candidate brought his laptop and managed to have WMM on his laptop otherwise my group couldn't have completed the tasks. NETBuilder seemed very disorganised throughout.
There were two interviews conducted. The first interview I had was the technical interview. This was to test out my technical knowledge. The second interview WAS meant to be a business interview. I felt that the technical interview didn't go too badly but it could have went a lot better so I thought I would make grounds in the business interview. It wasn't even an business interview! It changed to a personality interview, which wasn't bad but a long with the other candidates, we all wanted the business interview instead of a personality interview!

"What was the most difficult technical assignment you had to conduct?"
"Can you demonstrate the architecture of C# of the website you created?"

Stay in the city overnight. I thought that travelling from Birmingham to Manchester was going to be okay. But traffic caused me to be late, with 10 minutes left to get to the conference room. Also, if you're really applying for NETBuilder (I wouldn't recommend it) then you should really learn all of your technical knowledge as that was certainly the hardest part of the two interviews.

I was in a group with 3 other members. There were 4 tasks that we did, all using either the camera provided. The first task was to take a video of a local landmark in Manchester. The second task was the take a photo of all of the candidates. The third task was to create an interview asking 4 different candidates why they chose to apply with NETBuilder and the final task was the take a photo of another local landmark for an imagery.

The interview for all STP trainee positions take place in Birmingham. They include 4 interviews/assessments, in a 'speed-dating' type setting.

You have 10 minutes at each station, where you are interviewed by 2 people at each. 2 are based on your specialism (Medical Physics in my case), one was general Science and Maths, and the fourth was more questions you'd typically get for any job interview, about your aspirations and motivation to apply for the job as well as a chance to get your personality across.

Some in depth medical physics questions, which without my MSc in Medical Physics would have been very hard (it is not required that you have medical physics experience, only Physics and Maths).

Before the assessment/interview day, numerical, logical and verbal reasoning tests were carried out online, these were very difficult.

Read around the subject you are to specialise in, as well as general scientific knowledge.

Read journal articles / magazines such as New Scientist.

Join up to IPEM / other relevant professional body if offered before/after the interview takes place.

It was very well organised, with each interviewee being given a starting table, and a way to move around to the other 3. Also a bell is rung to identify when each 10 minute interview should be finished. The trainee is then given a 2 minute break while the interviewers make notes.

I was invited to the venue near Fareham to arrive at 8:15am where I was provided with a security badge for the day. After a presentation from the graduate team about working for DSTL we performed a group exercise in which (there were 7 candidates) we had 45 minutes to choose a solution to a worldwide problem, world hunger. We were given a set of solutions and we had to come to an agreement on one of them. Half of us then went off for a break whilst the other half had their interviews. We then switched over (after a security check) and I went for my interview. It lasted just under an hour for which the first ten minutes I was asked to give a short prepared presentation on my final year project. After this I was asked questions on my presentation and then general questions related to the role and my skills and development through university. After the interview was finished I was invited to ask the two interviewers questions that I had and then I was taken back into the main room for sandwiches and refreshments with the other candidates

I was asked simply how I felt if changed as a person throughout university, which was a great question but very difficult to answer.

Don't worry too much. The assessment centre only involves a few other candidates and isn't as high pressure as it can be for other places. The interviewers were very friendly and although I was nervous they did put me at ease very quickly. However if you are interviewing at the portsdown west campus do not walk there from the train station! You run out of footpath and before you know it you're walking up a muddy hill on the side of the road wishing you'd booked a taxi.

The assessment centre was mostly the group excercise as described earlier, although we did have to complete a verbal and numerical reasoning test before the interview was held

The IBM group assessment centre was very well run. The morning is split into four segments, where you are asked to work as a small subgroup in two of them, do a short test (to verify earlier test results) in one, and watch a "history" video and presentation.

The day is an excellent chance to network, and if you're successful you're asked to stay for the afternoon, do an individual interview, prepare a presentation and other activities. I was not successful unfortunately but it is a very competitive position and I fought hard!

We weren't really asked interview questions in that sense. However the group activities were difficult because we had to work with 6 other people we'd never met before and come to a consensus within 30 minutes on our projects.

Participate as fully as possible with your potential colleagues.
Do NOT sit in silence - you will not be chosen!
If you have an idea, speak up. Let people know you have something to say.
If you figure something out, tell people.
If you're not sure, clarify.
Enjoy yourself. It's for them AND for you.

We were split into 4 groups of 7.
We watched a 10 minute "history of IBM" video (available on YouTube) of what the company had gone through between 1911 and 2011.
We carried out a logic puzzle in order to answer questions. This required co-ordinating information
We carried out a "project management" task with a time limit, budget limit, strict client requirements and creativity.
We carried out a 10 question sequencing test to verify earlier results.

My initial telephone interview was with a member of the graduate recruitment team, and it lasted 45minutes. After having a brief chat about what the interview would involve, he started asking questions. It was standard competency based interview asking me to describe a moment in my life that applied to the question and how I dealt with the situation. I was also asked about my CV and relevant qualifications as well as why I felt I was suited to a job within the MOD and DSTL.

Describe a situation where you were working with a group of people from a variety of different backgrounds, and got into difficulty having to use the different skill sets of each person to solve the situation.

Make sure you chase up the company if you feel it has been an unusually long time since you last heard anything, it doesn't hurt to be overly enthusiastic.

I passed the telephone interview stage and was told I would be contacted shortly regarding an assessment centre date. However I didn't hear anything until over a month later when I got an email saying that all the assessment centre dates at the moment were full and I'd get an email soon notifying me of an alternate date. I then didn't hear anything back until 6MONTHS LATER, with a short email essentially saying that they'd forgotten about me and there was no longer a vacancy but they'd keep my CV on file.

Create an app using 5G that vodafone can create to improve some sector. I was asked more implementation details than expected, and I was asked questions in detail about the software choices.

Once my application had been accepted I was invited to an Assessment day. The day involved; an introductory exercise to test our communication skills, a tour of the offices with discussions with staff, a group assessment, a 45 minute interview with 2 interviewers per applicant and an hour and a half individual assessment where editing skills were tested. The layout of the day worked well as it allowed everyone to relax into the assessments. Throughout the day 10 or more staff members watched our actions. The interviewers took turns to ask a variety of questions involving giving an example of how you have used a skill in the past.

Describe a problem you have faced in the past that you did not deal with well and how you would have dealt with it in hindsight.

Make sure you are presentable and try to make yourself known to all of the members of staff observing you. Be friendly and memorable. If you haven't done any professional editing make sure you get lots of practice before attending the interview.

We were divided in to two groups of 7 and had to complete a timed challenge to test teamwork skills.