I was introduced to the new position by a recruiter and was contacted within a week via phone by the hiring manager. We had a great conversation and she shared many details about the role. Most of the questions asked involved my experience and why I was interested in working for Genentech. We both decided it looked like a good fit and I was invited to come down for an interview. First with the Director and then, a few weeks later, with several members of the Corporate Communications / Product PR teams as well as Human Resources. The first interview was very casual in a small conference room. The Director was wearing jeans and a nice sweater. I was in a suit and felt a bit overdressed. He made it clear that his team was bright, creative and very good at their jobs. After introducing himself, he said that he had just one question: "Why do you want to work here?" My answer must have been sufficient because he followed up with several other thought provoking questions before saying, "It really doesn't matter so much what I think. My team is great and they'll be the most challenging interview you've had." I left the conference room 20 minutes later feeling anxious about what was to come next... A few weeks later, I was invited to meet with five members of the team in a much larger conference room - one on one. Each interview was scheduled for 30 minutes but all went about five minutes over, so the last interview was cut short. Beyond the usual questions [e.g., Tell us about yourself? What makes you the best candidate? Why Genentech? (again)], each interviewer seemed genuinely interested in 'talking' - and by that I mean a real conversation about my experience, my values, their challenges and how we would work together. I received a call about three weeks later from the HR representative sharing that they had decided to go with a contractor who had been with the company for a while. She also shared feedback provided by the individual team members. It was constructive, positive and raised curiosity as to why I wasn't presented with an offer. I had a few more questions and reached out to the hiring manager for clarification. Again, the information provided was detailed, candid and very helpful. End result: It's difficult to compete against someone who knows the product well from the inside and has already been doing a great job as a contractor. The experience was time-consuming (two months) but overwhelmingly positive.