Two stage interview. First was a half hour zoom chat with some standard technical standard organic chemistry questions. The second interview was offered and I was interviewed with another candidate, simultaneously. I gave a presentation on my previous PhD/CRO/post doc experience. Then HR based interview questions. The technical interview went great - simple drug molecule with standard disconnections that I had actually seen before. So could provide the ideal literature synthesis route ontop of more general theoretical approaches. Although, the two members of staff were really bad at the technical interview. Quite agressive with bad forms of communication. The worst part was it was baking hot with no Aircon, asked for water and they advised me to make the most of the time left and essential denied me access to it LOL. I was tempted to leave at that point but glad I preserved well through the interview. I essentially asked for 38k based on my experience and that's not a huge amount to live off in an expensive city like Manchester considering the commute to the site that's in the middle of no where useful. They didn't offer me a job based on "my technical performance in the interview" that was strange as it was a very easy retrosynthesis. The practical lab questions were basic also. I think I talked myself out of it when I asked for 38k. The standard wage is low for research/senior chemists. One think I noticed about CRO's is they are now removing their previous Glassdoor company profiles and updating them with new ones to avoid bad employee reviews. It's to try and cover up and they've removed the lead chemist roles to overall pay employees less. I.e now just senior chemists and team leaders. It's a way of reducing overall salary payments. They're either struggling or don't value there staff adequately.