Coalition Backend Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I found this job on LinkedIn and applied. It started with a quick 15-minute chat with the recruiter. Then, I had a 1-hour technical interview with an engineer. The final step was a 2-hour virtual onsite, which included one hour of technical questions and one hour of behavioral questions. The recruiter was super helpful, keeping me updated and even offering to help me prep for the interviews.

I had a good experience with my recruiter, Dave, who was communicative and gave feedback. The interviews involved typical Leetcode problems, lasting an hour each. They began with behavioral questions, followed by two Leetcode questions, usually of easier medium to medium difficulty. I struggled with a question, overthinking it and attempting premature optimization, which cost me time. Even with an optimal solution, they might ask about further optimization, which can be confusing as feedback isn't given during the interview. The behavioral parts were standard, but the hiring manager asked detailed questions about my previous work.

The first interview was a brief 30-minute chat about my past work, which went smoothly. The second was a technical interview. It started with a live coding exercise. I was given a problem and some tests, which I finished quickly. They then added more conditions to the original problem. I solved the first added requirement and was working on the second when the interviewer said it wasn't possible. They changed the problem again, and I solved that quickly too, passing the tests, and we chatted about my solution. We were supposed to talk about a company value I prepared for, but we ended up discussing my experience more, including 'Tell me about a time when...' questions. It's unclear what they were looking for with these, but I felt I gave good examples. The interviewer mentioned they didn't get the agenda, which was a bit odd, especially since it was a technical interview with a less experienced developer. They even recommended 'How to Crack the Coding Interview' out of the blue, which confused me since I thought I did well technically. Despite my performance, this single interviewer decided not to advance me. Looking back, I feel like I dodged a bullet with this company.