Five9 Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I applied for a senior software position at five9 via Linkedin. A recruiter called me for screening, then I had a general behavioural question with the engineering manager. The interview went well and I had the skills they needed. Next, I did an offline coding project, which was a good project for testing Laravel skills. I submitted the project, but then things went downhill. I didn't hear back for a week, so I followed up twice a week, and they kept saying it was still under evaluation. I followed up again after a month, then a week later since the position was still open, and they were critical. They still gave the same evaluation response. I gave up. After 3 months, they sent a rejection email saying I lacked design skills, but the position was still open on LinkedIn. I ignored it. Six months later, they reposted the same position on LinkedIn with the same requirements, team, and project. This is a major red flag for an employer.

So after the initial chat with the recruiter, there were two more rounds. The first one was a video call with one person. They asked me a mix of technical stuff and also about how I work/fit in. For the tech questions, I had to do a code review, write some SQL, and figure out the time complexity of different things you can do with a Java array. The second round was a longer one, like three hours, with two engineers and a tech manager. One engineer went deep on TypeScript, React, and Java. They gave me some React code with a bug and wanted me to fix it. The other engineer had me write a Java method to make a random password with a set number of letters and numbers. Then the tech manager asked me to write a Javascript function to book a conference room, considering the schedule and the booking request. After that, they hit me with questions about system design, design patterns, and how modern frontends work. Even though it's a full-stack job, a lot of the questions were focused on the frontend.

Applied via LinkedIn, then had a 30 min chat with the recruiter about my background and if I was a good fit. Following that, I had a technical interview with the engineering manager. It was 30 mins of general technical questions and then 30 mins of screen sharing and coding. Manager liked my performance. Next was a take-home coding assessment which felt too big for the role. I had to build a Vue and PHP app from scratch, including user auth and some currency conversion features with scheduling and reports. The recruiter who initially contacted me left, and I was passed to another one. Since then, I've been ghosted and had to chase for feedback on the take-home. Finally, they told me they changed their mind and aren't hiring for the role anymore, after keeping me hanging for 3 months. Definitely think twice before applying, it might be a waste of your time and sanity.