Financial Times Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I had an initial screening call with the recruiter. After that, I was given a take-home assignment. The feedback I got indicated they didn't quite grasp the task's parameters. The goal was to integrate a list of index quotes from FT.com into a server-side rendered codebase. However, there was a JavaScript file in the page's head, along with some sample tests for it. It seemed like a valid approach, and even encouraged by the task description, was to handle the data fetching client-side to avoid delaying the initial page load, especially since the task said to avoid React or SSR frameworks like Next.js. FT.com itself does this by loading an empty state and then dynamically fetching market data to populate the list on the frontend. The reviewer questioned why I didn't fetch the data on the backend, which misses the point and the test setup. I tried to get more clarity but never heard back. The recruiter was also pretty slow responding to emails throughout.

I had an initial chat with the HR recruiter. After that, I was given a take-home assessment to complete. Then came a technical interview where I had to first solve a coding problem and write unit tests for it, followed by answering some technical questions. Lastly, there was a behavioural interview.

The HR screen was pretty fast and okay. Then came the technical interview, which was with a potential team lead over video. Honestly, it was one of the worst interview formats I've ever seen. It was basically a trivia quiz. The interviewer just went through a set list of questions without any depth or follow-up. There was no problem-solving, no system design, and no real discussion – just definitions being recited. If this is how they evaluate senior engineers, it says a lot about their engineering culture.