Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The process kicked off with two behavioral interviews, the first being more of an informational chat. My recruiter, who was super friendly and transparent, guided me through the whole thing. After those, I tackled a HackerRank exam. Usually, companies do the HackerRank first, which I don't love because you don't really get to know them. I liked doing the behavioral chats before the coding exam. The HackerRank was pretty easy compared to the technical interviews that followed. If you pass the HackerRank, you move on to two live coding technical interviews. You don't have to ace the first one to move to the second; they give you both and then review them. I was told that if you do well on just one, you might get a third interview, which made me feel better about potentially messing up one. My recruiter really seemed to have my back, and the process was clear from the start so I knew what to expect. I'd totally recommend applying.

The interview process started with a recruiter call, followed by a phone screen where they asked basic questions. I felt I answered everything well. However, after that, the recruiter went silent and didn't respond to my emails. It's been a week since my last contact, and still no reply. I found this behavior unexpected from the company. Fortunately, I received a better offer elsewhere during this time, so I didn't push for a follow-up, but applying here felt like a waste of time.

Was an employee referral and made it to the final in-person rounds. The process felt unorganized, especially communication from the hiring manager. After an initial email intro, I had to follow up a few times to get a response. Then, there were two phone calls: one with the hiring manager and another with an engineer for a technical screen. The in-person interview was standard, consisting of four rounds: three technical and one behavioral. About a week later, I was told I didn't get the role but would be a good fit for an SDE1 position. I stayed in touch with the hiring manager, who initially said the role would open up in a week, but then went silent. Despite following up a few more times over several weeks, I received no response, leading me to believe they weren't going to offer me the role. The experience was negative, particularly because they suggested I was perfect for the SDE1 role and then never followed through or even responded about the decision. I wouldn't recommend interviewing here.