Dover Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Had some computer fundamentals and coding questions, covering DBMS sharding, vertical scaling, horizontal scaling, and OOPs concepts. Afterwards, I was asked to do pattern printing in my preferred language using an online compiler.

They got in touch with me and asked me to do a phone screen. I agreed but now I regret it. The initial phone screen went fine, but the interviewer didn't seem to know much about the dev team or necessary skills. They advanced me to the next stage. The next round was a 40-minute live coding exercise with a team member, followed by a 20-minute chat. I asked if it was a standard whiteboard session or what to expect, but got no reply. During the live coding, I was confused because they said I could use any language, but the interviewer pushed for JavaScript over Ruby, which he didn't know. I went along, thinking it'd be a typical whiteboard where the main goal is pairing and discussion. It turned out to be a really complex problem for a 40-minute limit; we didn't get far, and I didn't proceed. Honestly, their assessment seems unrealistic; in reality, you wouldn't code at max speed under a 40-minute limit while interacting with a colleague. Most devs would focus on the problem first, which isn't feasible here. They're really hurting themselves by using such a stressful, unrealistic timed pairing test as their primary evaluation method (it should be either classic whiteboarding/pairing, or a take-home, not this stressful hybrid).

The whole interview process took about 5 weeks. It started with a very impersonal screening interview that lasted only 10 minutes, with the interviewer not even showing their face. The questions felt like they belonged in an online application. Immediately after, I was invited to the next round, a live coding interview. There was a 15-day wait for this one. The coding interview itself was pretty straightforward and the best part of the process, lasting about 40 minutes. The day after that, I got invited to a 4-hour on-site interview. The prompt was clear and allowed for a lot of flexibility. I met with 3 developers for 'pair programming', but some were silent, making me unsure if they were even watching. It felt like this whole part could have been a take-home assignment followed by a presentation. After those 5 long weeks, I got an email today saying they're moving forward with someone else, with no feedback. I feel like all the time and effort I put in deserved more than that, like some feedback on my performance or why someone else was chosen.