First round was one person asking about things on resume. Second round was three interviews in a row. They asked things on your resume, your work style, and some simple technical questions. Technical portion was really simple. Just asked how I would implement a palindrome method.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Implement a palindrome method (no ide, I just typed it in the chat)
1. Recruiter reached out and I had an introductory phone call with him.
2. Python technical interview
3. Two final interviews on the same day. One technical, one behavioural.
4. Unexpected follow-up interview, though this was to get to know the hiring manager and make sure I'm given a role that's a good fit.
Generally got along with everyone. Got positive vibes all-around, especially with the first interviewer. I even thought this would be my next gig. However, after speaking with the hiring manager, I noticed there was no diversity on the team. I was also getting rushed into making a decision at the end despite communicating that I was waiting to hear from a few other companies. I was also expected to start straight away, which isn't atypical, but burnout from long interview processes is a definite growing issue and I had no real way of communicating this. What made the rushing at the end a bit of a red flag is the fact that they themselves tended to push back interviews due to holidays (random Fridays off for 3-day weekends) or someone getting sick. When I needed flexibility, I got push-back.
All that said, the actual interviews were a very pleasant time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Interviews themselves were more conversational, but with one technical problem to solve.
• Python functions: parameters, *args, **kwargs
• Lists vs Arrays
• Class vs instance variables
• Reading files
• Exceptions
• Sets
• OOP
1. Deep copy vs shallow copy
2. Object serialization
3. Microservices
a. Scaling up performance
b. Horizontal vs vertical scaling
4. Pythonic way of checking palindromes
5. Reading files
a. What if the file has a billion+ lines?
b. Multiple ways to do this
6. Behavioral
a. Time when you've mentored someone
b. Time when you've presented to a large group
c. Talk about a relationship you've built at your work place
d. Time when you had to convince someone something
e. Time when you had to foster collaboration between multiple teams
f. How do you do approach research?
Time when you turned a problem into an opportunity
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Fannie Mae (Reston, VA) in Feb 2022
Interview
Initial 30 min phone screen where we just went over my resume and got asked some basic questions about my projects and working in teams. The second interview was two back-to-back 45 min interviews that were very similar to the first interview. I was asked more technical questions based on my projects but no leetcode-style questions. Got sent my offer about 3 weeks after the final interview.
