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      Senior Java Developer Interview

      10 Jul 2020
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Knutsford, England
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at PortSwigger (Knutsford, England) in Sept 2019

      Interview

      It was a multi-stage process with two telephone interviews and then a face-to-face. I was told that the first telephone interview would be non-technical, this wasn't the case, it was entirely technical. It consisted of three main categories - Java language, Java API and design patterns. I did quite well as I know my Java (20 yrs experience). This got me a second telephone interview. The second interview was non-technical and focussed on why I wanted the job, working practices, techniques, approaches to problems etc. It may have gone into employment history too. It went OK. It wasn't difficult, it was just to see if you'd fit in with the company and for them to get to know you and vice versa. The final stage was face-to-face. I turned up on time and managed to gain entry; there is no reception, a random person let me in. Someone made me a coffee and sat me in a room on my own. I waited for what must have been about 15 minutes for a manager to come and see me. They said hello, had a brief chat then disappeared for several more minutes. It was almost as if they weren't expecting me or were unprepared. Finally someone appeared to take me to the first stage of the interview which was a pair programming exercise. It wasn't difficult but nerves got the better of me and I had a mental block which slowed me down. They didn't seem to take this into account. Apart from that I think I did well. I solved the problem but like I said, the mental block caused by nerves (the manager was standing behind me most of the time) let me down. I don't know what they are trying to judge in artificial scenarios like this. You can't get a good picture of someone in artificial conditions. When that was finished I was led back to the same room I started in for the second stage which was led by a manager and another employee. I can't remember the specific questions they asked me but it was the usual non-technical questions you can expect in an interview. What I do remember though is that they didn't put me at ease. The questions seemed disjoined, like they were just reading from a list. I didn't warm to the interviewers, they seemed wooden and distant which didn't calm my nerves. One of the questions I do remember was to do with dealing with difficult people, because "they've got a few people like that in the company". I kid you not. I tried to start conversation flows but they always killed them and moved on to the next question. The whole thing felt artificial. I asked about working from home and they said they don't do that at all as they work collaboratively. That put me off a bit because more and more people are working from home these days, especially now with Covid-19 lockdowns. I wonder how they are coping with that. So that was it. A pretty lame final stage interview. I never got a tour of the office. It felt very clinical and left me disappointed. I never got an offer but I never got any feedback either, beyond a vague statement about not showing excellence. I mean, what?? I was never given the chance. The fact that they couldn't be bothered to give decent feedback and the fact that their interview technique is so poor speaks volumes.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Have I had to deal with difficult people and how do I go about it because "there are a few people like that in the company".
      Answer question
      6

      Other Senior Java Developer interview reviews for PortSwigger

      Senior Java Developer Interview

      9 Jun 2023
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Manchester, England
      No offer
      Neutral experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I interviewed at PortSwigger (Manchester, England)

      Interview

      I went through first round where they ask to review a java class and put in comments as reviewer. Not sure what they are looing for But I did not pass first round

      Senior Java Developer Interview

      15 Jun 2023
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Manchester, England
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at PortSwigger (Manchester, England) in Mar 2023

      Interview

      First Round was to spot issues in a piece of code. Second round was a core java design pattern based interview Third round was discussion with the founder Fourth round was a face to face coding test. I travelled all the way from London to Manchester and then their office and gave the test at 2 PM. There were 4 parts of a question, I completed 3 very quickly but for the 4 one I had a mental block for sometime (~10 mins) because I was tiered and anxious as well as 2 people were looking on my system continuously from left and right. Then I managed to solve that question as well and overall I took the total allocated time only. Then I had another interview for Culture Test. They did not liked that I got stuck in the coding test, they did not considered that person can be physically and mentally tired. I performed very well in other rounds and even solved all 4 questions in last round as well but not sure what they are looking for.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Questions on core java Questions on design patterns Questions on Database Coding Test
      Answer question
      2