the advice

Multi-stage interviews are common in scientific companies. Even if you have all the necessary qualifications, it is easy to fail during the interview process if you don’t know how to properly prepare for each stage and showcase your skills.

How can I break into the industry if my CV keeps disappearing into a black hole?

In a 2024 global survey, Nature asked more than 1,100 hiring managers from academia, industry and other sectors in 77 countries what they looked for in candidates. The survey found that “soft skills” such as communication and interpersonal skills, collaboration and how well people fit into the team were high on the priority list for people looking to hire. But listing these skills on a CV or job application is not the same as convincing interviewers that you have them.

NatureThe Careers team spoke to recruiters, career advisors and hiring managers, as well as people who experienced multi-stage interviews over the last year, to learn what to expect and how to shine throughout the hiring process.

what to expect

A recruiter or talent acquisition specialist is usually the first point of contact in the hiring process. They have selected you based on your CV and will decide whether you proceed to the next round of interviews.

They are the gatekeeper, but they are also your friends, says Alona Bärtschi, director of the career center at the Paul Scherrer Institute, a research organization in natural and engineering sciences in Villigen, Switzerland. “You have to try to get as much information as possible from them.” Companies have various hiring processes; some might have four rounds of interviews and others might do more or less. These details are sometimes posted on their websites. Otherwise, recruiters are the best people to ask about the organization’s selection process and who you will speak to at each stage. These selection interviews usually last about 30 minutes.

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The next stage usually involves the hiring manager, who is usually the person who makes the final decision on whether to hire you or not. They assess whether you would fit into the team and tend to ask behavioral questions, such as “could you tell me about a time when you had to respond to negative comments?”

Next, there may be a technical interview with someone from the team you will be joining. This interview will focus on your specialist knowledge and whether you can apply your skills to practical problems. You will also evaluate how you interact with others. The session could take the form of a panel interview and be led by colleagues at your same professional level and people who would report to you if you got the job.

The final stage will likely be an interview with a senior manager, who might focus on strategic questions, such as those about your thoughts on the direction of the field. This allows them to determine if you are someone who will represent their company favorably.

Prepare for your interviews

Preparation is the most important factor for interview success, says Benjamin Weber, vice president of translational and data science at pharmaceutical firm CSL in Zurich, Switzerland. Weber has spent about 15 years as a recruiting director in Europe, North America and Australia. “A major mistake people make, especially in high-level positions, is not being prepared and thinking they can improvise.”

There are many ways to prepare for an interview, ranging from researching the position and company (including the common salary range, the company’s hiring process, where its offices are located, and the products it sells) to creating pre-designed stories that showcase your skills and tailoring them to a variety of audiences.

A common mistake interviewees make is not doing enough research on the company. “That’s the bare minimum,” says Elena Hoffer, a Stockholm-based career coach and co-founder and CEO of online career development platform Alma.Me. Hoffer and Weber suggest that candidates go the extra mile by learning about the company’s services and products, and even reach out to other people who work at the company to learn about its culture. Applicants could even try to find out why the position is available (see ‘Prepare your own awesome questions’).

Many job seekers are eliminated from the interview pool early because they have not tailored their answers to the specific stage they are at. “You have to be strategic,” says Bärtschi. “You need to know who these people are and what their role is in the process.”

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The first interview, that of the recruiter, is crucial because it is where you can gather important information: who you will speak to at each stage, why the company is hiring someone and what elements of your CV are relevant to the position.

In all rounds of interviews, “it’s about being concise in your communication,” Hoffer says. Warn candidates not to digress. “It’s not about fancy language or sounding smart. It’s about being clear,” he says.

You must also remember that you are conversing with another person. Biologist Sophia Parks, based in Dalzell, South Carolina, spent months trying to find work after her second postdoctoral position. She is now a project manager at medical analytics company Health Catalyst in South Jordan, Utah. She says industry interviews are difficult for people who come from academia because “in academia, a question is an attack on your knowledge. But an industry interview is not like that.” She says her job search became easier when she started “having conversations with people instead of lecturing them.”