I was contacted by a recruiter at the end of May and had a phone screen within the week. I was contacted about two weeks later for an interview with the hiring manager and her boss. The phone interview went very well, and in fact, I was contacted the same day by the recruiter to schedule an onsite visit which was scheduled for about 2.5 weeks out.
My travel and hotel was arranged by RAI, and I was very impressed to find a "welcome package" in my hotel room upon my arrival. It was a extra touch that you don't see a lot of companies do these days.
My onsite interview started with me completing a case study. From what I understand, all prospective employees that come onsite complete a case study relative to the position for which they are interviewing. You are given 45 minutes to read the case study and prepare your response. I was a little intimidated when I first found out about having to do this, but in hindsight, it was not that difficult. It's a great vehicle for you to showcase your thought process and how you would create solutions to address the business need outlined in the case study.
Once I prepared my response to the case study, I then met with the same two individuals with whom I had my previous phone interview and we talked through my responses. They asked some additional exploratory questions, but all-in-all it was a very engaging conversation. In fact, they stress that they don't want you to create a PowerPoint or anything like that. All I did was make notes on my iPad and then refer to my notes when necessary.
The next round of interviews were split into panel discussions each having two senior leaders conducting them. The questions really focused on RAI's leadership dimensions and how I would approach different things based on the different dimensions. The leadership dimensions are available on RAI's careers site; however, I asked for and received them from the recruiter as well. The questions were behavioral questions; however, it didn't feel like I was being asked about specific behaviors, but rather that they were trying to get a sense of who I was, whether I would fit in with RAI, and they also focused on making sure I had time to ask questions in return. Mutual fit was a big theme.
In all, the interview process was very positive and I actually enjoyed the panel discussions. It allowed me to meet other individuals with whom I'd would be working and to see how I might fit in within RAI's culture. I received an offer of employment the day after my onsite interviews.