Bloomberg

Role: SWE Role

College: Not Specified (Master's student in CSE, Top 10 CS school for grad school and undergrad)

Interview Date: April 2022

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Selected

Difficulty: Medium

Rounds: 4 rounds (Technical Phone Screen, Virtual On-site with 2 Technical + 1 HR, EM Round)

Topics Asked: Data Structures, Algorithms, Resume Discussion, Behavioral, Programming Languages (C++, Python, Java), Time Complexity, Space Complexity

Experience:

The candidate applied for a SWE role (not new grad) and was contacted by a Bloomberg recruiter in April 2022. The interview process spanned several rounds.

Technical Phone Screen (45 minutes): The interviewer spent about 15 minutes discussing the candidate's resume before posing a coding problem, which was a variation of "Number of Islands."

Virtual On-site - Round 1 (Technical, 1 hour): This round featured two interviewers, one shadowing. After introductions, 15 minutes were dedicated to discussing the candidate's resume and technical interests. The first problem was a verbose scenario related to handling buy requests on a trading desk, which the candidate identified as aligning with a "Min Stack" implementation. The solution was coded, and time complexity and edge cases were discussed. The second problem was "Balanced Parenthesis," initially solved with a stack, followed by a challenging request for an O(n) time and constant space solution without a stack.

Virtual On-site - Round 2 (Technical, 1 hour): This round began with a 10-minute discussion about the candidate's resume. The coding question was a variation of "All Paths from Source to Destination." The candidate found the solution straightforward but struggled with determining its time complexity.

HR Round (30 minutes): Questions focused on previous work experience, interaction with colleagues and stakeholders, and motivations for pursuing a Master's and working in the US.

EM Round: This final round was with a very senior manager. The discussion revolved around the candidate's experience with different programming languages (C++, Python, Java, including their differentiation), standard behavioral questions, and advice for succeeding as an engineer at Bloomberg.

Overall Experience: The candidate received a verbal offer, with compensation details provided later. Preparation involved solving problems from "Cracking the Coding Interview," the "Blind 75" list, and Bloomberg-tagged questions from LeetCode Discuss and GeeksforGeeks.