Preparing for an interview at RLI requires a balanced approach. You need to be ready to demonstrate strong technical fundamentals while also showing that you are a collaborative partner who can communicate effectively with business teams.

Technical & Domain Competency – You must demonstrate a deep understanding of your primary tech stack, particularly .NET, C#, and database management. For senior and architect-level roles, you should be ready to speak extensively about cloud environments, system integration, and software design patterns.

Project Delivery & Problem Solving – Interviewers will evaluate how you approach real-world engineering challenges. Be prepared to discuss your past projects in detail, focusing on why you made specific architectural choices, how you handled constraints, and what you learned from the outcomes.

Collaboration & Communication – RLI values engineers who can build strong relationships across the organization. You will be evaluated on your ability to translate technical concepts for business stakeholders and your approach to working within cross-functional teams.

Culture Fit & Values – We look for candidates who are self-motivated, humble, and eager to learn. Our interview process is famously warm and conversational; showing curiosity, active listening, and a positive attitude is key to succeeding here.

The interview process at RLI is structured to be transparent, respectful, and highly conversational. We want to understand your technical capabilities, but we also place a major emphasis on ensuring that you will thrive in our collaborative working environment. Candidates frequently report that our process is welcoming, supportive, and designed to help you showcase your best work without unnecessary stress.

The journey typically begins with a conversational video call with a recruiter, followed by deeper technical and behavioral discussions. Rather than subjecting you to high-pressure, abstract coding puzzles, our process centers on practical discussions about your past achievements, software engineering philosophy, and how you approach system design.

The visual timeline above outlines the typical progression of our hiring process, starting from the initial touchpoint to the final decision. Candidates should use this roadmap to pace their preparation, focusing first on high-level experience and then preparing for deeper architectural discussions. While the exact steps may vary slightly depending on the seniority of the role and the location, the emphasis on conversational technical depth remains consistent.

To excel in the RLI interview process, you must understand the specific areas where our engineering teams focus their evaluation. Here is a detailed breakdown of what we look for during the technical and architectural rounds.

System Walkthroughs & Technical Storytelling

This is one of the most critical parts of the interview. Our teams want to hear you talk passionately and structuredly about the systems you have built. We evaluate your ownership of your past projects and your ability to explain complex engineering decisions.

Be ready to go over:

• Architectural decisions – Why you chose specific frameworks, databases, or cloud services over alternatives.
• Scaling challenges – How you identified bottlenecks in performance, memory, or database queries and resolved them.
• Lessons learned – Reflecting honestly on what went well and what you would do differently in hindsight.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Integrating third-party APIs in a secure, resilient manner; managing distributed state across microservices.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through the lifecycle of a request in the most recent system you designed."
• "Describe a time when a system bottleneck occurred in production and how you diagnosed and resolved it."

The .NET Ecosystem & Software Design

For our development roles, we look for deep expertise in the Microsoft development stack. We want to see that you do not just write code that works, but code that is maintainable, extensible, and secure.

Be ready to go over:

• C# fundamentals – Memory management, asynchronous programming patterns, and language-specific features.
• Web API development – RESTful API design, routing, middleware, and security practices.
• Data access layers – Entity Framework Core, raw SQL optimization, and repository patterns.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Multi-threading optimization, custom middleware development, and memory profiling.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you handle database migrations in a production environment with zero downtime?"
• "Explain how you would design a rate-limiting middleware for an internal API."

Cloud Solutions & Modernization

As RLI continues to scale its digital platforms, our ability to design and maintain secure cloud infrastructure is paramount. This area is heavily emphasized for senior and architect roles.

Be ready to go over:

• Azure services – App Services, Azure Functions, Service Bus, and Azure SQL.
• Cloud migration strategies – Moving legacy on-premises applications to the cloud using lift-and-shift or refactoring strategies.
• Security & Compliance – Managing secrets, identity access management (IAM), and securing data at rest and in transit.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Designing event-driven architectures using message brokers; implementing serverless computing patterns.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you design an event-driven system to process insurance claims asynchronously?"
• "What security measures do you put in place when exposing an Azure-hosted service to external vendors?"

As a Software Engineer at RLI, your day-to-day work will be dynamic and highly integrated with our business operations. You will not be writing code in a silo; instead, you will be an active participant in shaping our product offerings.

• Design and Develop Applications: Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code primarily using C# and .NET frameworks to support specialty insurance products.
• Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams: Work closely with product owners, business analysts, underwriters, and quality assurance engineers to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Modernize Legacy Systems: Participate in the ongoing migration of legacy applications to modern cloud-native architectures on Azure.
• Optimize Performance: Monitor, debug, and optimize application performance, database queries, and cloud resource utilization to ensure high availability and responsiveness.
• Maintain High Engineering Standards: Participate in code reviews, write unit and integration tests, and contribute to CI/CD pipeline automation to ensure continuous delivery of high-quality software.

We look for candidates who possess a strong blend of technical expertise and interpersonal skills. While specific requirements vary by level, the following core qualifications make a candidate highly competitive:

• Must-have skills:

  • Strong proficiency in C# and the .NET ecosystem (.NET Core / .NET 5+).
  • Solid understanding of relational databases, particularly SQL Server, including writing efficient queries and database design.
  • Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to discuss technical concepts with both technical and non-technical team members.

• Nice-to-have skills:

  • Hands-on experience with cloud platforms, preferably Azure (Azure App Services, Functions, Service Bus).
  • Familiarity with modern frontend frameworks such as Angular or React.
  • Experience working in the insurance, financial services, or highly regulated industries.
  • Experience with DevOps practices, including Git, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure as code.

Q: How technical are the face-to-face interview rounds? A: The technical rounds are highly conversational and focused on your real-world experience. Rather than asking you to solve abstract algorithmic puzzles on a whiteboard, our engineers will ask you to explain the architecture of systems you have built, discuss design patterns, and talk through how you solve practical software development problems.

Q: What is the company culture like for engineers at RLI? A: RLI has a highly collaborative, supportive, and employee-centric culture. Teams are close-knit, and there is a strong emphasis on work-life balance, mutual respect, and professional growth. Interviewers are genuinely friendly and want to see you succeed.

Q: Where are the software engineering teams located? A: Our primary technology hubs are in Peoria, IL, Alpharetta, GA, and Tempe, AZ. We support collaborative working models, but physical proximity to one of our key offices is often preferred for team alignment and collaboration.

Q: How long does the interview process typically take? A: The process is efficient and typically takes between two to four weeks from the initial recruiter screen to the final decision, depending on scheduling availability.

To make the best impression during your RLI interview, keep these practical, insider tips in mind:

• Lead with your project stories: Since our interviews heavily focus on your past work, spend time before the interview mapping out 2-3 significant projects. Be ready to explain the business problem, the technical architecture, your specific contributions, and the ultimate outcome.
• Emphasize the "Why", not just the "What": When describing a technology choice or architectural design, always explain the reasoning behind your decision. Showing that you weigh trade-offs is a key indicator of seniority.
• Showcase your collaborative nature: We value team players who can work across departments. Use "we" when discussing team successes, but be clear about your individual responsibilities ("I designed the database schema, while my teammate built the frontend").

• Brush up on modern .NET and SQL: Even if you are an architect, having a solid grasp of modern .NET capabilities and relational database design is highly valued. Be ready to talk about how you ensure database performance and code maintainability.

Joining RLI as a Software Engineer is an opportunity to build a rewarding career in a highly stable, employee-centric, and forward-thinking company. Our engineering teams are directly responsible for building the competitive advantages that keep RLI at the forefront of the specialty insurance market. By combining modern technologies like .NET and Azure with a collaborative, high-ownership culture, we offer an environment where your work truly matters.

As you prepare for your interviews, focus on structuring your past experiences, refining your technical explanations, and bringing your genuine, collaborative self to every conversation. A successful candidate at RLI is not just a great coder, but a great teammate and a thoughtful problem solver.

The salary ranges shown above reflect our commitment to competitive compensation for both senior developers and specialized architects. When preparing your compensation expectations, consider your depth of experience in cloud modernization, .NET architecture, and your ability to lead technical initiatives. Candidates can explore additional interview insights, community reviews, and preparation resources on Dataford to continue their journey toward landing their dream role at RLI. Focus your preparation, stay confident, and we look forward to meeting you.