I applied online. I interviewed at Elsevier (Oxford, England) in Jan 2021
Interview
I applied for a role listed on the site. I was offered a role 2 levels below what I was looking for because the other roles were apparently taken (1 is still listed on the site as available at time of writing).
I decided to pursue this to negotiate and for the interview experience.
I did an IQ test and my video interview was cancelled within short notice (afternoon of day before interview).
I was given 2 different reasons as to why the hiring manager had to cancel from the recruitment company relx.
I gave it another chance and reapplied for a new role at the level I was looking for.
I only received a response after 2 weeks that the new application was not going to be taken further.
Elsevier response
5y
Thank you for your review.
We apologise for your negative experience with us. Your review is very useful as we are working with the Recruitment teams to ensure that there is adequate communication at every stage of the interview process to ensure candidates are kept informed.
Thank you for your interest in Elsevier and we hope that this experience will not deter you from applying to work with us in the future.
Other Software Engineer interview reviews for Elsevier
I applied online. I interviewed at Elsevier in Feb 2026
Interview
Began with a phonecall interview with a recruitment officer who was very nice! Mostly behavioral questions, asking about my personal academic and extracurricular activity as well as just general conversational topics. Second interview was with two interviewers over microsoft teams, pretty informal, some technical and some behavioral with a oral presentation at the end.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why are you applying to Elsevier/ What about the mission speaks to you?
There was a call with a recruiter where we discussed the company and my background and then a technical interview with a few engineers. They asked about my university experience and my expectations for the job.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I think I had to find a palindromic year or something.
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Elsevier (Amsterdam) in Aug 2024
Interview
Value your time! The interview process is super long and unprofessional. They make you do 3 online tests, 2 non-technical and 1 technical, that take hours to complete. After all the effort, they completely ghost you and don't respond at all. It was such a bad experience, and I definitely wouldn't recommend this unprofessional company to anyone.
They record your audio and video during the interview with the recruiter, and they only tell you at the end. Overall, it was a really bad experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
HR basic questions, why this company? salary? 3 online tests