CARIAD Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

First, there was an introduction and a review of the resume. Then, I was asked to talk about past projects, specifically why and how I implemented certain things. There were also general SWE and ML quizzes, along with questions about teamwork and how to deal with criticism and technical disagreements with the boss.

The interview had three stages: First, a technical interview with two team leads. They started with a case study about designing a system to detect if a car ahead will change lanes, asking about necessary sensors and other options. Then, a coding task in C++ on Onlinegdb, which was very easy, involving the Fibonacci sequence. I asked if they wanted a recursive or iterative solution and implemented the iterative one as requested. They asked about its space complexity, and I explained it was linear but could be changed to constant, which I then did. After that, the technical interview concluded. Second, an HR interview, which I found difficult, with behavioral questions like 'What was the hardest situation in your life and how did you solve it?'. They really dug deep into the answers. Finally, an offer was presented (no negotiation!).

So, it was a 4-stage interview process. We had two technical interviews, then one with the director, and after that, an HR round. After I sent in all the paperwork, there was this extra technical interview with an Architect. Apparently, it was because my salary expectations were a bit outside their usual range. That last interview was pretty tough; the person seemed really into super theoretical stuff rather than just what I've actually done. They didn't seem to rate answers about how I applied things or my project experience very highly, which made me think they might struggle to judge practical technical skills.