I applied online. I interviewed at Block (San Francisco, CA) in Aug 2017
Interview
I applied online and the recruiter contacted me a little afterward for a quick phone screen.
I then had the technical phone screen the following week, which was surprisingly pretty manageable, a really basic question. The interviewer was actually very friendly during the process, and it felt more collaborative compared to some other companies I interviewed for. It seems like for this phase they want to know that you can actually code normally.
I moved quickly to the onsite - three more coding interviews, all very friendly. They helped unblock me and point out some or my mistakes as I was typing, which I really appreciate. I definitely would not have gotten through the problems if they just watched me, like other companies do. They want to see how you can work through a problem, not if you can pass or fail the challenge.
Something to note is that all interviewers come with problems that they come up with on their own, not from a pool of pre-approved questions, so it's pretty impossible to prepare for specific questions.
Next was lunch with an engineering manager (delicious), and then architecture with a pair of interviewers. Don't be deterred by interviewing with a pair of engineers. It's actually better, in my opinion, because it lessens bias from one, single individual and helps you with balanced feedback, if, for example, the solo interviewer was having a bad day. Together we designed a calendar API.
I then interviewed with another pair of engineers about my previous projects. Just a casual chat about what you've worked on, no whiteboarding whatsoever. It was pretty relaxed. They just want to get a sense of your general experience, didn't go into too much depth.
Overall, a much more positive experience than other companies I've interviewed at. Much more personable in general. The interviewers generally want to help you and see you succeed, instead of just watching you with their arms folded.
Interview questions [4]
Question 1
Fizz buzz variation, find duplicate integer from array
Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience with Square! We are happy to hear that you had a good experience with the Software Engineer Interview. At Square, we are always striving to provide the best candidate experience possible and we value your positive feedback. Hopefully, your post will help others prepare for their interviews at Square and give people a sense of the life at Square. Thank you for sharing!
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Other Software Engineer Interview Reviews for Block
Inital take home, followed by extension interview, followed by a coding challenge, followed by system design interview.
The whole process took 3 months!
The interviewers are usually really nice and want you to do your best.
The interviewer was nice, and he is friendly and willing to give hint, the question has 2 follow-ups, it was hard to complete in time. The question was not a typical LeetCode
Phone screen and then a full day of interviews. 3 pair programming challenges, a system design review and a prior experience interview. There was also an onsite lunch with a person from the company.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
To design a hotel booking system. Pick any part (backend, frontend, database, api etc) and deepdive into that, explaining the decisions along the way.