HRL Laboratories Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process had a few steps. First, there was a hiring manager call to go over basics like when I could start. Then, a call with a lead engineer to talk about the job and my resume, plus some tech questions. After that, I had a take-home coding assignment that was related to the job. Finally, there was an all-day onsite with about 4 different interviewers from teams I'd be working with.

So, the first thing was a phone chat with my future boss and project manager. Things went pretty well, so they set me up with an onsite interview. This was like, all day, and I met with over 12 different people, moving to a new room every half hour. You really have to nail that first impression every single time. Once you get to the onsite, they pretty much already think you're a good fit; it's really about seeing if you'll mesh with the team. Even lunch felt like part of the interview, sitting with about 20 people and trying to answer questions while eating.

I applied for two jobs online and the hiring manager reached out a few days after. We set up a phone interview that included the hiring manager and another scientist. About a week later, I was invited for a group interview at their office. This lasted from 9 am to 3 pm with a lunch break. I met 13 people in total. The hiring manager called me a few days later to talk about their hiring plan and said they'd get in touch in two weeks. They never did. I emailed the hiring manager a month and a half later, and he said one job was taken but the other was still open. I told him I wasn't interested anymore.