I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Mercer in Mar 2014
Interview
After an initial telephone screening and follow up email in which they said they weren't interested, they came back to me because my background matched with their client. I came in for an in-person interview with the hiring manager who would have been my supervisor.
Overall, a very positive experience, good company and friendly people even though I was not selected. They indicated that they were willing to train and assist me in getting the necessary health and insurance license to be able to represent the company to the client. I also appreciated the insights and transparency in terms of expectations and the challenges associated with the position as well as developments at Mercer.
They also offered feedback after I wasn't selected -- told me that I interviewed well but they found someone with my background who also had an insurance background.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I don't recall anything difficult (typical HR questions in terms of your strengths and weaknesses) but I guess I was a bit surprised that I was asked about salary expectations -- "Would $XX salary be okay?" -- at a level about $10K more than the telephone screener asked if I was willing to accept.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Mercer (Washington, DC) in Mar 2014
Interview
Corporate Recruiting contacted me about the position and after a review of my most current resume, etc they requested a phone interview with the recruiter. Phone interview lasted about an hour. We shared the time equally covering the general overview of the position, the company, and my background. No difficult questions - just basic review of my background and experience. Recruiter said I was an excellent candidate and would recommend I move on to an in-person interview, which I completed a week later. Hiring manager seemed very capable and knowledgeable. In the interview she utilized results from the personality test that was administered via email/web from corporate HR. Interview lasted an hour and a half with typical how would you handle this type of scenario questions, what are the qualities of your preferred manager, and why do you want to work here. Overall process was positive except they never bothered to let me know they hired someone else, which I hear is typical these days, but unprofessional and rude, in my opinion so I rated the process as negative.