The process started with what could only be described as an hour-long sales pitch over the phone from the recruiter. It seemed shady and, frankly, a little bizarre. Between this and my email interactions with them, I was not left with a particularly favorable impression of HR. After hearing the company virtues sufficiently extolled, this was followed by a technical phone interview, which was not particularly technical, and an on-site interview. Everyone seemed friendly and it turned out to be fairly painless. Once salary was brought up, however, the conversation ended quickly. The initial sales pitch seems to be an effort to distract you from the fact that they're going to lowball you later on the salary. Yes, the benefits are good, but not that good.

Two Phone interviews, first is more of an interest alignment/informational bit with a corporate recruiter. Second interview focused on professional experience, specifically systems exposure and was with your immediate supervisor and a more upper level manager within your discipline.