Dealer.com by Cox Automotive Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So I was a bit iffy about applying since I didn't really have Java experience, but HR said they'd help me learn it even though my background is PHP/Node. I somehow aced their Java hackerrank test, though it was annoying how many hidden test cases only showed up after I finished. About a week later, I was surprised to get an onsite interview. It started with HR, then I chatted with some product folks, did a whiteboarding session with the web platform team, and finally met with some of management. I was really impressed with how quickly HR followed up and how on point they were, which is not something I've seen from other local companies. It was a bummer they interviewed me for this job even though I didn't have Java experience, only to reject me for 'not having Java experience'.

The interview process is pretty long but pretty enjoyable. I was contacted by a recruiter, and then was sent the same small exercise with Palindrome as people below. Then, I had an interview with two developers just to get an idea of your level, ask a few more basic problems and to answer questions about the company. I was then called in for a technical interview and interviews with a few levels of management. The technical interviewers were very easy going and most of the interview involved technology discussions as well as a few design problems. Management panel interview wanted to get an overview of your career, your successes and your failures and what your objectives are.

I got contacted on LinkedIn and the HR felt I was a good fit. The first step was an offline coding challenge with 2 Java programs. I had to write the code, document it well, and include JUnit test cases. The questions were pretty straightforward: one was about palindrome strings and the other involved counting keys in a file. I passed this round easily. Next, I had a Google Hangout with a lead and a senior developer. They asked about my technical background and projects. For coding, there was just one question using an n-ary tree (class Node { ArrayList<Node> children; String info; }) to print website links. I figured it was an n-ary tree traversal and wrote the recursive program. They wanted me to print the level of the leaves. I adjusted my code to show parent, children, and the leaf level. The interviewers didn't offer much feedback during the session, and I felt like I was doing most of the talking. Two days later, the HR told me I didn't make it, which was surprising as I don't know why. For others applying, this is helpful info. The questions tend to be the same, so practice these programs. The pay isn't the best.