Blackhawk Network Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 40 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Blackhawk Network.
Blackhawk Network
Software Engineer
Entry Easy Positive experience Accept offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Take home Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Coding System Design
The interview was fun. I started with a talent acquisition call, mostly reviewing my resume and confirming my experience. This led to a second interview with the Software Engineering Manager, focusing on object-oriented concepts. The third round was a coding exercise to develop a deck of cards. The fourth round revisited object-oriented concepts and algorithmic thinking. The final interview with the Engineering Manager covered advanced topics such as code review, error tracking, and code simplification for user experience. Coding was primarily limited to the deck of cards exercise and a bit of code review. It's important to be solid on object-oriented design, API creation, and system/code troubleshooting. Everyone I interacted with was friendly and responsive. It's okay not to know every answer; ask clarifying questions and don't stress if you can't figure it out. Studying beforehand is key. Good luck! Note: Interviewers mentioned they recently changed their interview format, so older experiences might not be up-to-date.
Confirmed questions8 questions
- Can you describe how you would design the objects for a chess game and their relationships?
- Please design the objects for a deck of cards, then implement a shuffle function.
- Now, can you create a blackjack game?
Blackhawk Network
Software Engineer
Entry Difficult Negative experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Take home
Interview formats
Behavioral Coding
The interview started with a quick 15-minute recruiter call where they asked basic questions about my background and Java skills. I was then given a Coderbyte assessment, but the recruiter gave me wrong info about language choice (said I could use any, but it was Java-only). The assessment platform itself was not great compared to others like Hackerrank or Leetcode because all the logging and test case outputs kept printing to the console, making it messy. The UI was also poorly organized, and the problem statements were unclear about what they expected.
Confirmed questions4 questions
- Can you explain your background and your experience with Java?
- Create a constructor for a TreeNode.
- Write code to validate if a given structure is a Binary Tree.
Blackhawk Network
Software Engineer
Mid Easy Positive experience Accept offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Technical screen Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding Behavioral Technical
Applied through cut short. The whole thing took over 3 months. So, first there was this online written test, which was pretty easy questions. After clearing that, it took like 2+ months to hear back. Then came the first round, focused on Java - standard questions plus two coding problems. Cleared that. Same day, the second round. It was tough. They gave me a coding question, I struggled, so they offered another, which was even harder. I picked the harder one, didn't solve either, but the interviewer saw I kept trying. It went on for 1.15 hours. He asked me to write the solution myself (no Googling!) after an hour break and email it. I did that in 20 mins. Thought I blew it, but the recruiter called the next day saying I passed! So relieved! Then a couple of days later, a 30-min chat with the hiring manager (bar raiser). This was about my current development process: CI/CD, development cycle, code quality, and some behavioral stuff. The final stage was an HR round with a senior director, covering competencies, behavior, and salary expectations. Got the offer the very next day! The interviewers were super professional and made it feel like a casual chat.
Confirmed questions8 questions
- Abstract classes versus interfaces, and when to choose each.
- What's the difference between a linked list and an array list? Explain how an array list works internally.
- Can you elaborate on Java's core features like inheritance and polymorphism?
Blackhawk Network Software Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Blackhawk Network interview reports.
“Given a date as a string in dd/mm/yyyy format, determine the day of the week from 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday).”
Read reports →“Given a number, find the next largest number that can be formed using its digits.”
Read reports →“Write code that returns 'yes' if all adjacent element pairs in a list have an absolute difference of 1, otherwise return 'no'.”
Read reports →“Given two strings s and t, what is the minimum number of operations (Insert, Remove, Replace) needed to convert str1 to str2?”
Read reports →“When an ArrayList exceeds its capacity, the existing elements are copied to a new, larger array. Is this a shallow copy or a deep copy?”
Read report →“What is the difference between concurrent HashMap and synchronized HashMap? How can you synchronize a standard HashMap?”
Read report →“How would you write a code to return the number of leaves in a binary tree?”
Read report →“Given that Java utilizes Doubly Linked Lists (DLL) but only provides unidirectional iterators, why does it still use DLLs instead of a simpler Singly Linked List?”
Read report →“Create a Tic Tac Toe game where the computer and user can play. The program should declare the winner or if it's a draw.”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 40 Blackhawk Network interview reports.