Holland & Barrett Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Started with a 15-min initial screening call with someone from Talent, who was helpful and friendly. Then, a 60-min tech interview with an Engineering Manager and Lead Engineer. I felt this stage could use improvement, as the questions felt scripted and random, jumping between topics without much regard for my answers. It seemed like they were just trying to get through a list. I'd suggest fewer, more thoughtful questions to spark conversation. The second tech interview was 90 mins with three interviewers (Principal Engineer, Lead Engineer, Senior Engineer). It felt intense, like an exam. It began with a simple CoderByte programming exercise. The IDE experience was poor, forcing us into an unfamiliar environment without usual tools like code completion. Given the short duration and difference from daily work, I'm unsure of its value. A take-home project testing XYZ would be better, allowing us to use preferred tools and demonstrating build tooling, code explanation, project setup, and solution simplicity. The interview continued with in-depth technical questions and high-level system design. Again, it felt like rattling through a list of questions, some duplicates from the previous stage, with little focus on my answers. Apparently, they misunderstood an answer I gave, made an assumption without clarification, and seemed to decline me based on that. Misunderstandings and assumptions happen, but clarification is needed. Overall, the company uses interesting tech and has great TAs, but this interview process felt a bit outdated and could use an update with practices used by other companies.

It was a screening call with the recruiter and then a video call with the hiring manager. The video call with the hiring manager went okay, but I felt like a more back-and-forth conversation would have helped me better hit on what they were looking for. The recruiter, though, was awesome and gave good feedback when I asked.

Had a short intro call, then an easy technical interview, and got an offer. It was like that multiple times. Quick chat to get to know each other, simple technical questions that barely scratch the surface, and then—bam—offer in hand. Another short intro call, another straightforward technical interview, and just like that, another offer. Basically, brief conversations, easy coding exercises, and fast-tracked offers.