GSK Director interview questions

Whole process took about two months. There was an initial HR screen, hiring manager interview, and panel interview with a presentation. I was not offered a role, and the HM offered to give me feedback on areas for development which is great and so I accepted. What I learned from his feedback was that he was pretty biased about me before he called me for interview. He conveyed clear opinions about my experience in smaller companies. He cited as evidence my answer to one of his questions, that I didn’t give an answer he expected. I don’t see the problem with that, it was a very good and thoughtful answer that many people in the pharmaceutical industry actually do agree with. But I guess GSK wants to hire like minds. I didn’t actually get any feedback on areas that I should focus on for development, just a general notion that the answers I gave were “tangential” and the advice that I should apply to “biotech”, by which he meant small/midsize pharma companies. I was left with the impression that he thinks I don’t know anything about the pharmaceutical industry but again I think he had that feeling about me before he interviewed me and so I was already climbing an uphill battle. I think he struggled to find candidates for the role, and I think he also struggled to know what he wanted. My current boss (who thinks I’m incredibly knowledgeable about the industry) has a PhD in AI from Oxford and has worked at AZ, Lilly, and Oracle. Over half of my team in my current company have worked at Top 20 Pharma and they know I know the industry. My husband, who may be biased in my favor, thinks I’m incredibly knowledgeable and he works at AZ. I live in Cambridge and 90% of my friends have Cambridge PhDs and work in either pharma or consulting and think I’m incredibly knowledgeable. I run an advisory board at work comprised of 30 people from Top 20 pharma where we discuss, among other things, the drivers of value in the pharmaceutical industry. So TL;DR if you don’t have academic or industry pedigree be prepared for a lot of doubt about your knowledge and skills and be ready for an uphill battle. I wish I had been.

wonderful interview process - very timely and organized and HR was very upfront with information. wonderful interview process - very timely and organized and HR was very upfront with information