Integral Ad Science Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So first there was a short 15 minute call with HR, after that I had a behavioral call where we went over my resume and some typical behavioral questions, and then there were two technical interviews which were both like LeetCode medium questions.

There were 4 rounds where they asked 1-3 experience questions, one design, and one coding question. There was one technical conversation interview, which felt like a solution architect interview. The interviews were quite easy. They tried to fit in a mini behavioral/system design/coding question into each interview, which was a bit unusual but acceptable. I was disappointed with one of the interviewers; he seemed inexperienced for his career level. He was about 10 minutes late and rushed through the instructions in a hurried tone. Usually, at even a tier 2 company, if an interviewer is late, they'd offer to reschedule. This guy just said, 'Ok tell me your intro, and then immediately go into the first question which is to say something you did recently. No wait - just tell me something you did in the last two years. But something you did cool'. He continued talking like that the whole interview, contradicting his own instructions. For the system design part, he asked a standard question about converting a batch system to a streaming system. He also seemed unprepared regarding system design tools, insisting on using Zoom's whiteboard to 'save time'. He kept changing his mind about the tool, saying 'Pick a tool you like - NO WAIT just use this Zoom whiteboard. Yes use the Zoom whiteboard… just use the zoom whiteboard'. He seemed to think this conversational style was making up for his lateness.

The VP reached out to me on LinkedIn for the job. We had a call, and he sent my info to HR. Then I had to do a test via Criteria Corp. After that, I had another call with HR. I was then chosen for a live coding round. When I asked HR what to expect, she said Java and SQL for an hour. The round included a few behavioral questions and then technical questions about my resume on Coderpad. The interviewer was helpful and gave hints. I do wish HR had communicated better beforehand; even with technical knowledge, it's hard if you don't expect the questions. The VP was really supportive the whole time.