Bloomberg

Role: SWE New Grad (2024)

College: MSCS @UF

Interview Date: January 2024 (Experience published)

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Rejected

Difficulty: Medium-Hard

Rounds: 3 rounds (Technical Round 1, Technical Round 2, Technical Recruiter Round)

Topics Asked: Data Structures, Algorithms, Graph Traversal, Linked Lists, Behavioral (STAR method), Problem Solving, System Design (conceptual follow-ups)

Experience:

The candidate applied for the SWE New Grad 2024 position and shared their interview experience in January 2024, which ultimately resulted in a rejection.

Application: The candidate applied through an unconventional "leaked" link and subsequently received a call from a recruiter to schedule the first technical interview.

Technical Round 1 (45 minutes, Hackerrank code pair): This round consisted of two coding questions. The interviewers focused on the logic and explanation of the solution, not necessarily on compiling the code, and were language agnostic.

• Question 1: "Flatten a Multilevel Doubly Linked List" (LeetCode problem).
• Question 2: "All Paths From Source to Destination in a Graph" (LeetCode problem).

There was significant discussion around the solutions, including follow-up questions on optimizing for O(n) time and handling scenarios with millions of data streams. The candidate cleared this round.

Technical Round 2 (Virtual Onsite): While not explicitly detailed in the provided snippet, the context implies this was another technical coding round, likely with advanced follow-ups similar to those in the first round, focusing on scalability and optimization.

Technical Recruiter Round: This round focused on behavioral questions, including:

• Describing a project where the initial approach was incorrect, how the mistake was identified, and the steps taken to correct it.
• Navigating through a project due to unforeseen challenges.
• Changing an approach in a project to achieve better results.
• Adapting to unexpected developments in a project.
• Handling a complete change in approach within a project.

Overall Experience: Despite the rejection, the candidate found the experience enriching, gaining insights into areas for improvement. Key tips shared included paying close attention to edge cases in coding problems, using the STAR method for behavioral questions, and choosing the correct problem-solving methodology, even for daunting problems.