Shortly after I submitted my résumé, Epic HR contacted me for a telephone screening. This played out unstressfully, a bit like a friendly chat. "Hi, how are you? Here’s a summary of the work typical of this position. Would you be willing to submit to some tests?"

Perhaps two weeks after the screening, they instructed me to take a proctored online examination to test problem-solving and programming capability. No questions about specific technologies, just your standard brief IQ test stuff, then some questions about a fictional programming language they describe. (Be prepared for ambiguity in that description, possibly intentional.) My exam finished with an algorithmic programming assignment for which any language (or pseudocode) could be used — although I understand that other applicants did not take this portion of the exam until the physical interview flyout.

That difference may have been because, at the time, I was seeking not a software developer position but instead “technical services”. A week or so later, their HR department contacted me to say I’d done well on the programming assignment and would I like to interview on-site for a software development position?

Oh, okay.

They flew me to Madison soon afterward. Their generosity bordered on ostentatious: they paid up-front to send me and my girlfriend out from North Carolina, putting us up in a nice hotel 25 minutes from their campus (when closer and less expensive accommodations were available). They even offered to reimburse any sightseeing and travel that my girlfriend wished to do while I was interviewing.

The interview was split into several sections with different interviewers, a few of which included a second applicant. An HR person showed the two of us around; someone demonstrated the use of Epic software; some developers ate lunch with us. I further met individually with two developers — in one session describing a software project I’d worked on in some detail, in another session going through a problem-solving exercise.

This latter was … awkward, and I remain unsure exactly what he expected of me. He posed a broad (and somewhat abstract) dilemma that a physician’s office might face and seemed to want me to bounce ideas off of him about how to approach it. I wasn’t comfortable about the lack of context there (who am I in this scenario? What tools do I have available?) but I did my best.

The day ended about 1:00 in a nice chat with an HR rep. Pretty standard stuff there. This same employee called me a week and a half later to let me know they’d not chosen to hire me, with a tone of voice usually reserved for doctors telling patients that their cancer is untreatable.

Things that stood out:

• Quirkily decorated but very attractive campus. No gray cubicles here. In parts, it felt almost like a children’s museum, one hallway painted with stars overhead, another like a subway. Be prepared to go down a slide.
• Somewhat cultish atmosphere, and an extremely youthful collection of employees. Their cafeteria could easily have been attached to a college dorm (albeit with better food). If you’re much past 40, you may stand out.
• I’m used to letters announcing my rejection, either by mail or electronically, or else just being forgotten about. Epic seems to take the process a bit more seriously. Just don’t see “Madison” on your caller ID and assume you’ve been chosen, because they’ll call you either way.
• They care about standardized test scores? Seriously? How the heck do I remember my ACT scores? That was a dozen years ago; do they even keep records that long? Luckily, the scores were on my undergrad transcript.

How can doctors encourage patients to take action on routine maintenance (e.g., cancer screening exams, vaccines), particularly when lacking any other reason to make contact?