I was invited to apply after posting my resume on, I believe, Handshake or a similar site. The day after I applied, I got a follow-up email to set up a phone interview and then complete their Rembrandt Profile.

I can't say I remember much about that other than it being a personality test of sorts, but I was just honest about it because, after all, I want to be at a place that is a good fit for me.

At the time, I was applying to a lot of positions and ended up forgetting to make an appointment for the phone screening. They followed up about 3 days later, and a couple days after that, I finally set the time for that first phone interview.

It was during that confirmation email that I was prompted to set up the skill assessment test they have. I ended up scheduling it for what I thought would be right before my phone interview.

So I took the test, which was MUCH longer than I thought it would be. If I remember right, there was:

• A 2-minute quick questions section.
• A "math" section (where the last 5 questions were closer to trivia/think-out-of-the-box questions).
• A learn-a-new (but fake, I believe) programming language section.
• And then 4 open-ended coding questions.

I should note that someone watched me the whole time, which was interesting, but I suppose it was to make sure we don't cheat or anything, because they want to really find the best people for the job.

I'm a very math/trivia/problem-solver type person, so honestly, the first 3 sections were a breeze and dare I say, fun. Even if you've never even seen code before, if you have some ability to read and come to very basic conclusions, the fake programming language section should be pretty easy, even if it sounds odd.

The last section, for all the coding questions, was the time suck. Maybe it shouldn't have been, but not having the ability to run my code threw me a bit. You can write in any language, but it's weird to do when you've been switching back and forth between so many for other assessments, because they can somewhat blend together and you're not allowed to search whether or not it's .add or .append. I have heard from others that it's more your thinking and thought process than anything, so don't sweat the particulars. I made sure to comment to outline what I was doing to make it easier for someone to understand when they went through it. And at the end, when I knew I wasn't exactly done with the last problem, but that I really didn't have anymore time, I explained what I further wanted to do or what I re-thought of doing differently after I wrote it. Anyway, that test took about 3 hours.

I was supposed to meet with someone right after, but I had gone through that whole meeting time quite significantly. I was worried for a bit, but I figured they could see that, yes, I was still in their test during that time and missing it wouldn't really count against me.

When I rescheduled and did it, the 30-minute interview ended up being closer to an hour for me, but I'm a talker and I ask a lot of questions.

It was about a week and a day later that I got an invitation for a final interview (YAY!). From everyone I've talked to and read about, they don't really typically invite you to the final interview unless they already think you'd be a good match and your scores are all good. Maybe though, people that aren't excited about the job don't post their experiences as often when they don't end up getting the job, so maybe there's a bit of survival bias here.

I ended up scheduling it about a week and a bit later.

Their final interview in the age of Covid is online, but it's also half them pitching you to choose them. (It's 4 parts and about 3 hours long, 2 of which is them telling you about Epic + having a Q/A session.) I believe before Covid, they would typically show you the campus and do that all on-site.

After the first 2 info sessions, you have a Case Study which is specific to the position you're applying for. I was just designing a piece of software to solve a problem, and my interviewer would prompt me to add things to consider aspects I hadn't considered.

Overall, I found it really in-line with what I want to do in my day-to-day, which is partially the point of it to begin with.

Then I had my final interview. I don't know if it's just me and the way I am, pretty personable, but this interview was mostly us just talking about our lives, goals, and backgrounds and didn't feel really "formal" even if it was. Which, honestly, I liked. He asked me a couple "formal" interview questions, but I do think the point of that interview is to make sure that you can communicate and really seem like you want to work there.

I made it very clear that although I had other interviews and job prospects, Epic was my first choice. Some people will tell you to not play all the cards in your hand for salary negotiation purposes, but Epic has set starting pay for each position, no negotiation.

I got offered the job after my background check about 2 weeks later.

Tell me about yourself.

Why Epic?

What's a hobby of yours?