I believe Illumina is a strong company that treats its employees well. However, contract workers appear to be viewed differently. I was interviewed and hired as a contract employee, and throughout the process, the HR team was professional and transparent about what to expect in a contract role. My interview experience with the hiring manager, Ted Nguyen, was noticeably less positive. He emphasized that he did not want my contract to extend beyond six months and focused primarily on setting limitations rather than discussing how my interdisciplinary background could benefit his team. It seemed that there was some tension around the fact that the software development team had supported my hiring while I was being placed within the BI team. Rather than exploring collaboration opportunities, the conversation felt guarded and centered on managing expectations, which made the overall experience feel discouraging.