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      Senior Software Engineer Interview

      19 July 2017
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Mill Valley, CA
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Glassdoor (Mill Valley, CA) in July 2017

      Interview

      The interview process started out moving rapidly, but I was disappointed that they dropped the ball at the end. I applied online and got a Glassdoor recruiter email a few days later. Phone call with the recruiter was not really technical other than asking my basic background, areas of interest, self-rating of skills on a 1-10 scale, ie Java, SQL. Lasted only about 20 minutes. Later that day he followed up with an email scheduling a phone interview with a Senior Director of Engineering for the next day. The Sr. Dir. of Engineering interview was pleasant - explained the org, asked about my recent work (not a "deep dive"), and posed a tech problem over a shared editor (For a system given a large array of words ahead of time, write a function that takes a two character set and returns the set of words that contain both characters). Within a day I received email to schedule the onsite interview, which happened about a week later. The onsite was with... a Director of Product Management, a Director of Software Engineering, an Engineering Manager, and two Senior Software Engineers. The PM explained the engineering organization, and the functions of the two different team positions under consideration (the other interviewers were split between the two teams - manager and engineer from each). I enjoyed these interviews more than I thought. Though they all involved whiteboarding problems, the folks were smart and engaging, and I was less stressed than I thought I'd be. However, after I gave Glassdoor about 6 hours of my time, plus prep, I received no response after the onsite, until nearly a week later after I sent two emails to the recruiter about status. I've been on the hiring side before and that's unacceptable to me, especially for a company like Glassdoor that touts transparency in hiring. Although I wasn't offered the job, I'd expect that the team got together to debrief on the interview within a day of me being there, and should have told the recruiter the result, and the recruiter should have notified me. If they weren't making an offer, I should have been notified immediately. If they still had other folks in the interview pipeline and weren't ready to make a decision, a simple email to that effect, and that they'd make a decision in X days/weeks would have been OK too. In summary, the actual applying & interviewing process was great, but I rate the overall experience negative because that was my feeling at the end waiting for any notice of status/decision.

      Interview questions [5]

      Question 1

      For a system given a large array of words ahead of time, write a function that takes a two character set and returns the set of words that contain both characters.
      Answer question

      Question 2

      Given two arrays, return the elements in one array that aren't in the other.
      Answer question

      Question 3

      Write functions for a system to receive a stream of numbers, and have functions that can quickly give the sum, average and median of the stream at that point in time. The tricky part of this was the median.
      Answer question

      Question 4

      Various SQL questions, given a simple schema, write queries for questions that needed joins, outer joins, grouping, having, correlated subquery.
      Answer question

      Question 5

      A couple of questions involving implementing caching in a service for recently/frequently requested data.
      Answer question
      8
      avatar
      Glassdoor response
      8y
      I’m sorry to see that you had a frustrating experience. Our team tries to be as transparent as possible around our hiring decisions. I will link up with the engineering hiring managers and recruiters to ensure we're being more responsive with our candidates. I appreciate you coming in and interviewing with us.

      Other Senior Software Engineer interview reviews for Glassdoor

      Senior Software Engineer Interview

      15 Nov 2024
      Anonymous interview candidate
      San Francisco, CA
      No offer
      Neutral experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Glassdoor (San Francisco, CA) in Jan 2024

      Interview

      My interview experience at Glassdoor was thorough and transparent. The process included initial screening, technical and behavioral rounds, and a final panel interview. Interviewers focused on skills, cultural fit, and open communication, making it an engaging experience.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Design a URL shortening service (similar to Bit.ly)
      Answer question
      avatar
      Glassdoor response
      1y
      Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and leave a review. We're glad you found the process thorough and engaging; that is what we strive for. We look forward to our paths crossing again! - Jake Dorochenko, Talent Manager, Technology

      Senior Software Engineer Interview

      6 Oct 2022
      Anonymous interview candidate
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Easy interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Glassdoor in June 2022

      Interview

      Only got through the HR phone screen phase. Meeting was rescheduled twice (both times on the day of the interviewer emailed about 30 mins before and said he needed to reschedule, no big deal), then the interviewer was 15 minutes late and sounded like he was calling from his car. He asked typical things (work history, why Glassdoor, gave the spiel about how it's great there) and asked a tech screen question about databases. Told me that there's a role higher than what I applied for available and that he would apply me to that position instead. I said great, can't wait to hear from you. A couple weeks later, I got an email from him saying that they're going a different direction for that role, but he would still push my application through the role I originally applied for. Again, I said great, can't wait to hear back. That was that last I heard from him, despite sending 2 follow up emails a couple weeks later. The whole time through the process it felt very rushed poorly handled. I'm pretty convinced that I never got considered for the role I actually applied for since I didn't get notice that I was an applicant. Very poor showing from a company that claims to be all about transparency

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Work experience, database optimization, why Glassdoor
      Answer question
      2
      avatar
      Glassdoor response
      3y
      Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and share your experience. My belief is that this situation was the result of a recruiter who was transitioning away from the team and an ensuing breakdown of communication. Your experience was the exception, not the rule, and our standard is higher. Our team should have been handled better and we are committed to doing so in the future. Thank you for holding us accountable to the standards we strive for. - Jake Dorochenko, Technical TA Manager

      Senior Software Engineer Interview

      15 Aug 2022
      Anonymous employee
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Glassdoor in June 2022

      Interview

      5 rounds of interviewing: - Initial Screening - Coding Challenge - Coding Challenge - Product Director - Engineering Director Coding challenges were relatively common questions involving mid-level algorithms needed for optimal processes (recursive programming, priority queues, etc). Challenge was to do it both accurately and optimally.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Given a linked list of nodes, determine if there is a loop in the linked list.
      1 Answer
      avatar
      Glassdoor response
      3y
      Thank you for interviewing with us, and for taking the extra time to write this review. We're glad to hear that you had a positive experience, and are very happy to have you on board! -- Mike Cialowicz, Senior Director of Engineering, B2B

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