I submitted my resume and completed an online application through the SmithBucklin website to initially apply. I did not know anyone at the company or have any internal contacts. I received a call from a talent acquisition person in the HR department who asked me a few initial vetting questions and then scheduled a formal phone interview for a couple days later. The same talent acquisition person was who the phone interview was with, she asked several questions about my background and experience, why I was interested in SmithBucklin, and asked detailed questions about what I knew about SmithBucklin and the work that they did. At the end of the phone interview she scheduled an in-person interview for me to sit down with marketing staff, and also sent me tests and paperwork to complete prior to my interview, which I completed and sent back the same day they were sent. On the day of my in-person interview I checked in at reception and was promptly greeted by a friendly girl from HR. She escorted me to an interview room (empty office) and asked me several general questions about my experience, why I was interested in the job, and what I knew about SmithBucklin. She also gave me a brief background of the three people I would be talking to from the MarCom department, and made sure I had copies of my resume for each of them (offering to make copies for me if I didn't). Each of the three MarCom folks I chatted with were upper level managers (Senior Manager and above), and I talked to each of them one-on-one for approximately 30 minutes. Each of them had a different specialty within the department and each asked very different questions about my experience and background. I found it very easy to talk to each of them and made sure to ask relevant questions based on what I heard from them, which also gave me some valuable insight into the workings of the department and the expectations within. At the conclusion of the last interview the girl from HR returned to escort me to the elevators and answer any questions I had. I followed up that afternoon with an individualized 'thank you' email to each of the people I had come in contact with that day, as well as to the talent acquisition lady. I received a call from the talent acquisition lady two days after my interview offering me the position, and outlining the salary/benefits offer. The initial offer was $43,000/year, I countered and requested an additional $3,000 up front to offset moving expenses for my family (we lived four hours from Chicago at the time), and SmithBucklin countered back with an offer of $46,000 per year and no moving expenses, which I accepted. After I signed the offer letter a representative from HR contacted me to fill out paperwork, and they completed a background and credit check (my offer was contingent upon these two checks). After my checks came back clean my first day and orientation were scheduled (everyone starts on a Monday), and I made arrangements to move my family. Overall the process was just that - a process, and from start to finish took about 5 weeks (from initial application submission to the day we scheduled my first day.) My first day was two weeks later.