I applied through a recruiter. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Ab Initio (Lexington, MA)
Interview
I had two short recruiter calls, one hour-long screening interview, and three longer interview days. The last two interview days were in-person. The interviews were generally fairly easy and vague but it seemed to depend heavily on who you were assigned to talk to. I talked to someone on the last day who seemed unhappy to be talking to me; we had a hard time communicating and that interview didn't go well for either of us.
I applied through other source. I interviewed at Ab Initio (Guildford, England) in Apr 2025
Interview
They spent an overall of 12 hours hours getting to know the applicants before hiring them. Applicants are often flown to the US on the company's expense to carry out interviews in person.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Ab Initio in Sept 2022
Interview
I interviewed in Fall 2022. I spoke with a recruiter and had a phone screen. After two full days of 1-on-1 interviews, I did not get invited to their in-person screening. Each day of interviews had me speak to 4 people. Two interviews were used to do a technical screen where I was asked to explain how I would solve problems. They are looking for cultural fits more than anything else. Strange interview process, quite arbitrary. They trust their people and their opinions to a fault. If you fit in, it looks nearly euphoric, but you need to drink the Kool-Aid.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Q: What is a situation when you've had to collaborate and it didn't quite work how you wanted it to?
