Digitize Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

This was probably the worst interview I've ever had, out of hundreds. It took about 5 hours. It started with a quick questionnaire about my C skills and a simple counting problem I could code in any language. Then, they tested my Excel and Word skills, followed by a personality test. Next, I had a chat with what seemed to be the manager. After that, I was in the server room coding on an Arduino with minimal instructions. I had two problems to solve there. Then they made me take an IQ test, which was weird and new for me, but I scored above average. Apparently, it wasn't enough because after all that, they told me I had 'raw horse power' but lacked knowledge of 'bit-banging,' which was the next challenge. They could have saved me a lot of time by mentioning that during the manager chat. It felt like a waste of time. They also seemed to prefer candidates willing to work over 40 hours a week, all for $17/hr.

So the whole thing for a Software Engineer role went like this: First, they give you a pamphlet about the company stuff. Then, a word and excel test, you know, some basic editing in word and then in excel, like finding the average and making a graph from data. Also a quick typing test, only 1 minute. After that, a whiteboard coding part, but it was just writing on paper, no explaining needed, super basic like summing an array. Next, I had a chat with an engineer, mostly behavioral questions like if I'm okay with overtime and what I offer. Then came a 3-part Arduino coding challenge with simple tasks. Finally, an IQ test with a lot of questions, like 109, for 90 minutes, covering math, words, patterns, and graphs.

The interview process included an onsite whiteboard assessment followed by a programmer's challenge. The challenge involved gathering user input to create a linked list with functions for reading (print_whole_list(), search_list()) and writing (add_data(), delete_data()). There was also an onsite Arduino Test that took about 90 minutes and an IQ test (90-minute allotment, used 4 mins less than max time). They also assessed my ability to iterate some functionality from the programmer's challenge in C, using C++ on the Arduino. I spent 90 minutes on the challenge, 90 minutes on the IQ test, and 90 minutes trying to port C code into C++, all consecutively. I stayed for almost 6 hours total (2pm - 8pm). They told me they wouldn't hire me due to my lack of electronics background, even though they had me come back for the IQ test after the Arduino challenge. The whiteboard algorithm question was about two arrays holding daily work hours for two weeks, and it asked to loop over the data to find the count. I solved it with two callback functions: one to combine the arrays and another to count the hours. I explained my answer to the manager, even though they said they were looking for more coding experience. I got a 130 IQ score and was confirmed INFJ. I shared my github and audio portfolio. They told me I must have an electronics background, so I took a React job making $20/hr part-time. The final stage involved the CEO asking the manager if I was a programming genius after the Arduino assignment. They said they would call on Monday, but I never heard back.