Very long description below, but hey if I would have loved to have this transparency before the process. Enjoy! Applied online but just got a couple rejections. Was actually reached out by a sourcer out of the blue who asked if I was interested and we set up a call the very same day. Asked me whether I preferred embedded or application development and a couple clarifying questions about my resume (not behavioral, just verifying somethings). Then spent the rest of the call selling me on Raytheon. Asked salary expectations, I said I was flexible, and then she gave me a very rough estimate for my experience level. Asked if I was still interested and I said yes. Said she would send my resume to the hiring manager and if they said yes, would set up an interview. Reached out a day later with positive news, she got HR to contact me, we set up an interview the next week. Interview was a Zoom video call panel with FIVE people on it. Two hiring managers, one team lead, two engineers. Everyone was fine and respectful and they grilled me on stuff listed on my resume (make sure you *KNOW* everything you have on there), even asking follow ups of what specific techniques or technologies and my methodology to solve problems and projects I listed. They also very surprisingly asked me technical questions to a level I would not expect at all in defense. Really only had like one behavioral question. HR called me back a day or two later with positive results on an offer. They asked salary expectations, I asked for a range. I think they honestly lowballed me (everyone obviously wants to get paid more but I think people have a very very inflated sense of what a fair/good salary is, ESPECIALLY in the tech world. I have quite a few anecdotal data points of level 2 defense software salaries and can confidently say I was kinda lowballed) but I countered with wanting +$10k more than the top end of the range she said. Awkward silence with typing ensued (I think she was getting approval) but after a few minutes she said she could do it, which was surprising. +$5k of the top end of the range is what I would say is market rate right now, maybe a couple thousand more. But what they agreed to definitely was slightly higher than I expected and above market rate. I think it's obviously because everyone non-big tech is hurting for people, especially software engineers right now. Sourcer was easily the friendliest person throughout the entire process. No one was bad or mean at all, I would say slightly more friendly than average, but that sourcer gave me a great impression of Raytheon. She constantly asked me about how the process was going and she for sure was fighting behind the scenes for me. Definitely felt like she was on my side advocating for me and she alone is a huge reason I will have Raytheon at the top of my list when pursuing new roles in the future. I honestly would have accepted the offer but I got an even better offer elsewhere with a shorter commute, more pay, and even hybrid so it was a no-brainer to take that. *Note that the above experience was for RMD. I did actually get contacted by an RIS recruiter a week later and she was really nice too actually: explained to me that she found my resume online, I mentioned I was already talking to someone else, and then she said it must be from RMD. She was friendly and honest and said I definitely should talk to both divisions and find a perfect role for myself as even though she works in RIS, her ultimate goal is to recruit great talent for Raytheon in general, so regardless of where I go, it's a win for her if I join Raytheon. She was very honest with salary expectations (definitely gave above market rate with a bonus) and said she was would pass my resume along to a hiring manager and if they gave a green light, would schedule an interview. Unfortunately, I guess RIS works a little slower (to be honest, I actually think they're just super busy with not enough people as that's the impression I got) because I did get contacted by a hiring manager, who apologized for taking so long as he was really busy, to set up an interview. But since I already got an offer from RMD, they weren't allowed to interview me anymore, per the RIS recruiter. She still reached out and congratulated me on the RMD offer, which was quite nice of her. Raytheon really has great external facing employees, they should definitely reward/give them a raise!
