I'm a current Scientific Developer who interviewed at ECL, took the take-home test, got an on-site interview, and work there currently. For me the take-home test was difficult, but thankfully, I scored well enough to earn an on-site interview. I got along with my now colleagues, and I readily accepted the consequent offer. Some perspective from someone who got through and currently works at ECL: * Yes, the take-home test is intense and took 40+ hours of my time. Others have made it through while working a full time job/grad school. It's possible, but certainly be judicious. There's no shame in ceasing the application after seeing the questions. * We grade the tests and don't profit off them. If anything, we lose much time/money administering them. * I thoroughly enjoyed answering the questions, and I suspect that notion accords with many colleagues. We see it less transactional and more fulfilling in its own right. If the test isn't provoking and engaging, ECL is probably a poor fit. * We encourage working with friends and colleagues to see how you work with others, simulating how you would work with folks here. After all, the best problem solving comes from collaborative efforts. Do we lose out on some great potential hires? Absolutely. However, no hiring process will abrogate false negatives and positives completely. To further rebuke the venom: We work on difficult, interesting, and foreign problems under constant time duress, simulated by the test. It's also meritocratic -- candidates, who may not have the most pedigree, can shine and demonstrate capability essential to ECL operations/development. Otherwise, we could only rely on inferior indicators (e.g. names of schools/PIs, publications). Good luck to all who apply.

After learning a bit about the company, I was prompted to take challenge questions which were related to advanced topics in programing, chemistry, biology, statistics, etc. Scoring high enough will garner a typical 1 day interview with team members in the various teams.