What Illumina actually looks for
Illumina, headquartered in San Diego, California, is the dominant maker of DNA sequencing technology, with instruments like the NovaSeq and MiSeq used across research, clinical diagnostics, and increasingly consumer-adjacent genomics applications worldwide. Illumina is a genomics tools and instrumentation company rather than a traditional pharma or biotech, so its business depends on selling sequencing hardware and consumables at scale to labs, hospitals, and pharma companies, not on developing its own drugs. The company went through a highly contentious period after acquiring Grail, a cancer early-detection liquid biopsy company, facing sustained antitrust pressure from both the FTC and European regulators who argued the deal would let Illumina disadvantage Grail's competitors that depend on Illumina's sequencing technology; Illumina completed a full divestiture of Grail in 2024 after years of regulatory and shareholder pressure. Interviewers, especially in strategy and corporate roles, expect candidates to understand this saga as a real lesson in vertical integration risk within a market where you also supply your competitors.
Common questions and how to answer them
What lessons should Illumina take from the Grail acquisition and divestiture? A strong answer discusses the antitrust risk of acquiring a company in a market segment that depends on your own core technology, and how that created conflicts with Illumina's other customers who compete with Grail. How does Illumina think about its role as an essential supplier to companies that are also potential competitors or customers? Show you understand Illumina's position at the center of the genomics ecosystem, where maintaining neutrality and broad access to its sequencing platforms matters commercially and regulatorily. Walk me through how declining sequencing costs have shaped the genomics industry Illumina operates in. Discuss how cheaper, faster sequencing has expanded use cases from pure research into clinical diagnostics and broader adoption, and what that means for Illumina's growth strategy. Across all three, be specific about Illumina's dual role as both a supplier and sometimes a competitor within genomics, since this tension is central to how the company is evaluated strategically.
How to prepare
Understand the full Grail saga, the original acquisition, the antitrust fights with US and EU regulators, and the eventual 2024 divestiture, since it's one of the most significant recent events in Illumina's history and likely to come up in strategy-related interviews. Know Illumina's core product lines, like the NovaSeq and MiSeq sequencing platforms, and roughly how the company's business model depends on instrument placement plus recurring consumables revenue. If interviewing for a role touching regulatory or corporate strategy, be ready to discuss the antitrust dynamics of a company that both competes with and supplies its own customers. Expect strategy and corporate development interviews to include a case study on evaluating an acquisition for antitrust risk, since the Grail experience shaped how Illumina now approaches similar decisions.
Frequently asked questions
Before your next interview, it helps to have the fundamentals down. Our complete guide to preparing for a job interview covers the basics, and the STAR method is a reliable way to structure almost any answer under pressure.