Preply Backend Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

After the initial recruiter calls, the first interview was a tech screening. This round involved a pair programming session with two interviewers. We tackled abstract problem-solving tasks, not specific to any programming language, for about an hour.

I want to say upfront that the process was really clear and they kept me in the loop at every step. The interviewers asked stuff that was spot on for the job and project. The feedback though? It was super brief, just a yes or no, and I was hoping for more details on what I could improve.

The entire interview process was conducted online due to COVID. I applied through the website and then had an initial conversation with a recruiter. We discussed my past work, what I'm looking for, and the company's future growth plans. It was a great chat, and it made me really interested in the position. The next stage involved an online assessment that took around 2-3 hours to complete, but there was plenty of time. It included multiple-choice questions on algorithms and Python, some SQL tasks, a coding task to simplify existing code, a couple of discussion-based questions, and two coding challenges. Despite seeming like a lot, it was manageable. My report showed I got 100% on the assessment, except for the discussion parts, with only two other candidates scoring as high, while the average was 70%. After that, I had a technical interview that heavily focused on Python and Django expertise. You really need to know the intricacies of the language and framework to succeed. They presented numerous small Python and Django problems, requiring me to solve and discuss them within the hour. A typical question involved showing code and asking if a test would pass and why. Initially, it seems straightforward, but they often include subtle deceptive elements. For instance, they might ask about specific Python behaviors that cause the test to fail, even if the code looks correct. They also asked about optimizing Django performance, again with deceptive aspects. Interestingly, when I asked about their daily work challenges, they didn't align with the interview questions, leading me to believe the interview focused on problems the team might not even face. I didn't do well in this interview. However, they gave me feedback, which I found very positive. The final step was supposed to be a cultural fit interview.