Dealertrack by Cox Automotive Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So I got reached out to by a recruiter and we chatted about my background and what I've done, and they thought I might be a good fit. They sent me a HackerRank problem, which was pretty simple, just some string manipulation that I had three hours to do. Then there was a 30-minute phone screen, and after that, I went in for an onsite interview. They said to block out four hours, but you get sent home right away if you don't pass at any point. The first part was an hour of trivia questions about Javascript, OOP, HTML/CSS, C#, and that kind of stuff. Then a manager came in for the second part. He asked some more C#/OOP questions and then had me code a fairly easy problem on the whiteboard. After that, we moved on to a database design question. He gave me two tables and said I could change anything about the database, then asked a bunch of SQL questions. If I couldn't answer a query, I had to change the DB design to make it work, which is where I messed up. I don't have much DB design experience, and I told him that, but he said my design was bad. He then ended the interview abruptly, and someone else told me that was it for the day. It was a bit of a bummer because I felt like they should have asked if I had experience with that first, since it's not on my resume, and then tested me on it, only to say I wasn't a good fit. It felt like a waste of time since I could've told them upfront. Companies want good developers, some focus on problem-solving, others on specific skills. This place seemed to focus on the latter, which can be good or bad.

HR at Dealertrack, Dealertrack Canada, and Cox Automotive Canada (all sister companies) postponed my interview three times. I had to chase HR to get it rescheduled, as there was major miscommunication and she wasn't sure if it had even happened. After speaking with HR, I had an interview with a hiring manager who was really rude and arrogant, acting like he wanted to humiliate me and cutting me off when I tried to answer. Even though he seemed to want me to move to the on-site interview, I decided not to proceed because I have self-respect and wouldn't want to work with someone like that. Honestly, don't waste your time applying here if you value yourself.

After an initial email from an external recruiter, I had a phone call with them, followed by an in-person interview with the recruiter. Then, I had a phone call with the Software Manager, and another phone call with the Software Architect. The process concluded with an in-person interview with two Software Architects and the Director of Software Engineering. The overall experience was great and fast, though I later learned my case was an exception as most hiring processes take about a month.