PA Consulting Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

I initially spoke with someone in London who seemed unfamiliar with the role. After two months of follow-ups, and despite having someone from the same hiring team in Northern Ireland contact me again about the same position on LinkedIn (even though I was already in the process), I had to push again to get information. Eventually, I had a second non-technical interview with someone in London. This person also seemed unaware of the role's specifics but asked about my background and explained how PA worked. They then asked some basic technical questions. At the end, they said I'd proceed to the next stage. A week later, HR informed me that I wouldn't be progressed because others were a better fit. I did mention my controlled Epilepsy, which I wouldn't do again in future interviews. I'd strongly suggest going through external recruiters, as the internal hiring team was one of the worst I've encountered. Given my experience, I would have declined further interviews anyway. I was only casually looking, and they didn't do enough to impress me or sell the company, quite the opposite, especially since no one from the Manchester office could discuss opportunities there.

The interview process was quite long, starting with a screening call, then a technical assessment, a competency interview, a technical deep dive, and finally, four one-hour interviews that focused on company values. Even though it was structured, it took about a week between each step, making it feel too long. The communication wasn't great either; I had to ask for updates a few times, which was annoying. I made it to the final stage, but then got an email saying the hiring was paused because of internal changes. It would have been nicer to get that news on a call, especially after putting in so much time. Also, they initially said Software Engineer but later it turned into Senior Software Engineer Consultant, which wasn't clear from the start. For the amount of work and the salary, it didn't seem worth it.

I sent in my application online, and about 10 days later, I got an email for a phone interview. It was about 30 minutes long, and they told me I'd be moving on. The very next day, I got a link for a coding test. I finished that, and two days later, they invited me to an assessment center a week later. The assessment day was really well set up, with good stuff and advice sent beforehand. It had three parts: a case study, an interview, and a group task. Usually, there's a final chat with a partner, but luckily, I did my case study with the partner, so I skipped that. They called me about two hours after I left the assessment center and offered me the job right away. All in all, it was a good experience.