Northwestern Mutual Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So I interviewed for a Senior Developer role at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee. Overall it was pretty smooth, the team was nice and professional and asked stuff that made sense for the job, and they were upfront about what they expected. The recruiter was good too, always updating me and letting me know when decisions would be made. The main hiccup was salary. I told them I was looking for around $xxx,000, and I thought we were on the same page, but then it turned out we weren't really. That was confusing and kind of a waste of time since the offer didn't match what the market pays or what I expected. They said they offered more than they usually do, but there wasn't much flexibility to get closer to market rate. The team itself seemed great, and the job looked like a good chance to work on important projects. But yeah, if they had been clearer about salary from the start, it would have avoided all that confusion.

Started with a 30 min recruiter pre-screen where they talked about the company, project, and team, and asked about my background. Then, I had two technical interviews: one with lead engineers and another with the hiring manager and an architect. They mentioned my experience was good but I lacked architectural knowledge for the Lead role. They asked if I'd consider a Sr. Software Engineer position instead. I was open to it, but the recruiter went silent for a week. After following up, I was told budget issues closed the positions. It was a decent experience overall, and the interview wasn't too tough; sometimes it's just luck if you've recently reviewed certain topics.

I went to Northwestern's first-ever all-digital job fair because of Covid. It was a bit messy with the tech, but overall pretty good. Started a couple weeks before with a quick coding test. Then I had a recruiter phone call, and got ready for the fair. They gave me plenty of info on what to expect. I felt like after the first coding test, they weren't too focused on my skills, but more on my work ethic and if I'd fit their company culture. Didn't get the job in the end, but they were fair, which is more than I can say for others.