I applied in Sep 2025, and the process ended up taking about 8 months. HR first reached out in March 2026. I honestly wasn’t even looking for a new role this year and had completely forgotten I applied. At first, I thought it was a scam since they contacted me 6 months later.
After the initial phone screening, I had to complete a coding assessment using R and Python(an optional Gen AI bonus question). For the R portion, they wanted candidates to use packages they created, including one that wasn’t even a year old. I already had R experience, so it wasn’t too bad, You get a week to complete it, but I still ended up spending most of my weekend working on it since my weekdays are usually busy. The assignment basically involved building a DS domain, ADSL dataset, a summary table, and two visual outputs. I also completed the bonus Gen AI question.
About a month later, they scheduled interviews: one behavioral and one technical. I think both went ok, and the technical interviewers specifically said they were impressed with my coding assessment. I was prepared to walk through my code and discuss issues like visit mapping and controlled terminology (CT) challenges, but they didn’t ask anything about my code during the interview.
Then I got a generic rejection in May 2026.
Honestly, I debated even doing the assignment because the timeline made the role feel questionable, especially after Genentech reduced statistical programmer roles back in Feb 2026.
Maybe they already had internal candidates in mind, or the role just wasn’t a priority. I think I did alright overall, but not exceptionally well either.
