I uploaded my resume to Monster and a recruiter contacted me sometime later encouraging me to apply for some positions at Epic. I filled out an application online, basic stuff. Then I got an email asking me to take a skills/personality test. After that my recruiter emailed me for a phone interview. It took a week or two to set up, but once it was set up, she called right on time and it was a relatively quick and painless interview. She then invited me to the next step of the interview process, in Wisconsin.
When I was in Wisconsin, I had a paid-for dinner with an employee and three other recruits. They were all really nice and smart. The employee said the dinner was purely for asking questions and just having a nice time, and that he wouldn't be reporting anything back to HR. It was a great opportunity to ask questions and get honest answers. He was positive about Epic, of course, but he was also straightforward about the fact that it's not for everyone.
The hotel was pretty sweet. Normal hotel, but each person I talked to either had one king size bed or two full size beds. I didn't need two full size beds, but I'm not complaining. Also Epic offered to pay for everything in the hotel besides alcohol and in-room movies -- I doubt anyone abused the privilege, but it was still nice to have there for little things (soda, snacks, toiletries if you forget them, etc.). They really take care of their recruits!
Epic and the hotel had provided us with breakfast cards, so the next morning I went up to eat and saw some other recruits there, whose start time was, like mine, 8:30 am. After breakfast we piled into a taxi to get us to Epic, checked in at the front desk, and waited with the other recruits.
We were split up into groups, but the groups don't mean too much other than what floor is your (usual) meeting point for the day. Everyone got their own schedule, and then the group went to an info session and watched a demo of an Epic product. Then we got split up to do a quick mini-tour of the building and we got to go down the slide. Afterward, a Project Manager met with me and two other recruits to talk about the position.
The day consisted of three 1:1 interviews, a case study with one other recruit, a mini-math test, a relatively more extensive math test, a verbal test, and a programming test (not "real" programming, just working with a fake language to see how well you can follow programming-style directions). There was also a presentation that I'd prepared beforehand. Everyone was really nice throughout the process...there were a couple people who I felt like thought they had better things to do than be interviewing me, but nonetheless everyone made me feel pretty comfortable.
Lunch was good (and paid for) -- I heard somewhere later that the employee you and the recruits go to lunch with DO report back to HR, but I wasn't told that when I was there, so I'm not sure how true it is, but I bet it is. After the interview day was over, I sat in the waiting room eating cookies and playing with the iPads and Nintendo DSes until my cab to the airport got there.
I got a little nervous since most people here who got offers seem like they heard back within the first seven days (the company tells you they'll get back to you within two weeks), so when they called ten days later, I wasn't sure what to expect...but I got an offer! I asked for some time to consider the offer and accepted a week later.
The best advice I got was from the employee I had dinner with: Just be yourself! I was sitting in the airport earlier that day trying to think of ways to impress them, but once the employee said you can tell when people are trying way too hard, I decided to go in and just be me. And it worked!
