I applied through college or university. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Bloomberg (New Brunswick, NJ) in Feb 2015
Interview
I went through campus recruiting. The process took two day. For Software Engineer position, they hire two kinds - One with programming background, another without. I went for the later. They are really nice and gentlemanly about it and they inquire about what we are comfortable with and ask questions in that area.
They do want to make sure that you know basic programming and are familiar with data structures. Logic and understanding a problem is what they look for. So be prepared for lot of puzzles and situation questions. They dont expect you to answer them right away. They help you through the process. I guess they want to test how we approach a problem.
The first round had puzzles and basic data structures questions reg hash tables trees etc.
The second round had more programming in it.. They ask more data structures questions and a little bit about architecture.
In the third round I was asked to build an architecture connecting front end UI and key value data at the back. They asked me to design what DB what APIs and data structures I would employ for that. This discussion alone went for an hour. But they were very understanding and encouraging if we get stuck.
And then in the HR round, I was asked about why I chose to apply for this and a little bit about my background.
Finally I spoke for half an hour with a managing director, who asked me about all the projects I undertook during my work experience and masters.
Overall a very positive experience. Even though I did not get the offer it is one of the best interviews I attended because of the way they treat the person being interviewed.
Interview questions [4]
Question 1
You have 12 marbles, out of which only one is of different weight. You dont know if its less or more than the others. what is the lest number of weighings you have to make to find it.
Overall, it was a positive and professional interview experience, though the interviewer was on the stricter side. Unfortunately, I was dealing with an illness and wasn't able to prepare as thoroughly as I wanted to, which left me feeling a bit off throughout the conversation. Despite not feeling my best and facing a tough interviewer, the process was well-structured.
Fairly simple. Phone call then onsite. For onsite it was 10 min office tour follow by 1 hr interview then 1 hours system design and 30 mins manager interview. Interviewers were nice and the recruiter was accommodating.
5 rounds first 3 being leetcode coding ones and the last 2 being behavioral. The first three are the hardest asking mainly taggeed questions and the rest are not that bad