Stage 1 - Take home assignment: Java codebase take home assignment on github. Stage 2 - 30 min "culture" interview (online): Culture interview - “tell me about yourself” and “tell me a time when you” kind of questions. Stage 3 - Assessment day (PortSwigger HQ, Knutsford) This consisted of 5 rounds, lasting from 9AM until 4PM on the same day. Round 1 - Pair programming - 01:30 hrs: I was paired with a senior engineer for this, and was given access to Claude Code. An extensive codebase was presented on which I had to add features that the senior engineer wants us to implement. It was not DSA based tho. Round 2 - Group activity - 30min: I was teamed up with other candidates in a group of 4, and all of us were given a list of scattered information. Our job was to collect and organize the information, and work together to achieve a goal. The culture team was overlooking at our performance. Round 3 - Pair problem solving - 30min: I was paired with another candidate and was given a puzzle to solve. Round 4 - Culture interview - 45mins: I went to have a conversation with a senior employee. Was all about culture related questions. Round 5 - SwigFactor interview (culture oriented) - 45mins: Another extensive round to talk about culture, as they tested how much of a fit I am to PortSwigger.

Applied online through PortSwigger’s careers site and heard back within a few days. Stage 1 – A short Zoom interview focused on logical and problem-solving questions (e.g. “How can you tell if a barrel is more or less than half full without using any tools?”). Stage 2 – A technical Zoom interview with around 40–50 quick Java questions covering syntax, libraries, and general language knowledge. Didn’t progress further, but the process was fast, professional, and well-structured.