Coalition Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So I applied for this Software Engineer - Underwriting role in Toronto, Canada. It turned out to be a total scam, a waste of my time. It felt like they were just trying to hit their internal numbers, not actually find the right person. I went through a recruiter video call, then a 1-hour technical screen, and finally two 1-hour onsite interviews. The interviewers actually seemed to like me, saying all the comments were positive. The recruiter was super friendly, almost too friendly, which felt off later. They talked up the benefits and pay before the onsite and said I'd hear back in two days. After the onsite, the recruiter said they'd share an update, but then went silent for four days, only to send a survey. I gave them a good score then, thinking it would help, but now I regret it because they were clearly just trying to get good feedback before rejecting me. Six days later, the recruiter finally called to say they went with candidates who were a better technical fit. When I asked for feedback, they said they couldn't give any because they're HR, not an engineer. After pushing, they said they'd try to get feedback but never did. The craziest part is that they're still posting the same job and other software engineer roles. So it's obvious they lied about moving forward with others. When I asked about other roles, they said I wouldn't be considered and then just ended the call. No formal rejection email either. I'm sharing this because I regret the survey score and want to save others their time.

I applied online and got lucky with a referral from a former co-worker, which was essential since the role got a lot of applications quickly. The first step was a chat with the recruiter. Right after that, they scheduled a 60-minute technical screen for about a week later. This technical screen started with about 30 minutes of behavioral questions about past projects and challenges. Then, for the next 20 minutes, I had to tackle a medium-hard Leetcode question on data structures and algorithms. I'm not sure if the goal was to actually get a working solution in 20 minutes or just to outline a plan, as it felt like not enough time. Spoiler: I didn't finish it in time, which I suspect is why I didn't move forward.

I applied through Glassdoor and heard back after about a month, mainly because the initial role I applied for was filled. First, I had a 30-minute chat with a talent team member about my interest and timeline. Then, a 45-minute meeting with the hiring manager, focusing on my past experience and behavioral aspects for the first 30 minutes, with the last bit for my questions. They also detailed the company structure and my potential team/product. Following that was a 1-hour System Design session with a lead architect, where I had to re-design an existing system. Next was a Virtual Onsite, which included a coding and behavioral panel, a values interview with product, a System Design #2 with engineering, and a project walkthrough with two engineers where we discussed my past projects and resume details. The interviewers were great, really nice and engaged, clearly wanting to hire good people. I mentioned I had other interviews and asked if they could speed things up. The Coalition talent team was amazing, super accommodating with my schedule and reachable by phone/email throughout. The whole thing from first contact to the offer took just 2 weeks. The interviews were thorough but not overly hard, hitting a good mix of technical depth, thought process, and behavioral questions.