My interview was similar to all the other PM interviews on here and was enjoyable, until about the last 45 minutes, so I won't rehash those details. I would like to try and do two things though. First, I'm going to try and convince you to not take the job. Second, if you need the job, I'll explain how to get an offer.
My general impression of Epic is that employees are not trusted. First you have the All Efforts clause, which basically says you can't have another form of income separate from Epic. They will say this is because they may need your effort at a time that conflicts with your other responsibilities, but really it's because they don't trust you to manage your time. Along with this they have the 1 year restriction on ex-employees working for any competition or consulting. Again, no trust. Even during the interview, I was asked questions by a Project Manager that couldn't define terms within the questions or give me more information because she hadn't discussed them with anyone. Apparently, she was handed a list of questions by HR to go and ask interviewees. Current PMs trusted to come up with relevant questions to ask in interviews? Nope. Even the HR person that called with my rejection read from a script, which was obvious from the tone and cadence of his voice. Imagine getting one of those automated rejection emails in your voicemail. No trust to let them be human.
The interview also focused on things you are not, and your weaknesses, rather than your strengths. Which, if you read through a bunch of work reviews, is a theme. During the interview they ask whether you are more thick skinned or take to heart when it comes to constructive criticism. The correct answer in their eyes is thick skinned, because the negative is what they focus on. I'm all for continuous improvement, but solely focusing on the negatives makes for a brutal culture.
Now, if you're still interested, here is how you get an offer. Take the lead during the case study. At some point, you should go up to the white board and lead the meeting. I'm not saying the whole meeting, I'm just saying at some point. Share the space with another interviewee if you have to. You're not trying to run the session and close the others out, you're just looking to lead the discussion at some point and bring everyone along with you. Next, be affable. You don't need to get them to think, you need to get them to smile. If they ask a stupid question, don't ask for clarification, make a joke, and pick the more aggressive option. I'm thick skinned, I'm a talker, etc... Oh one more interesting interaction. During my HR interview we got into a short discussion about the profile typically hired as a PM. HR stated that he thought they hire both listeners and talkers as PMs. The very next question was, Do you prefer talking or listening more? In my head I'm thinking, Ummm you just said it didn't matter for the hiring decision. *The correct answer is talking, and you think listening is important.
Despite all of this I would have taken the offer had I gotten one, but wouldn't have quit my job search. You shouldn't either. Good luck.
