ReliaQuest Security Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Overall, a nightmare. 5 interviews over 3 weeks. At least it moved fast. The first interview was an intro conversation talking a little about me as well as the company with a very easy 10 question technical interview. Answers pretty much covered basic concepts from the Network+ certification. Second interview was an easy interview about company culture and your fit in it. Third interview was an in-depth technical interview covering 3 major topics (Linux commands/server admin, Windows server admin, and general network security). Really not that in-depth of questions but covers a wide range of questions. Glad I studied a few days for it since I am new to the industry and this was an entry-level job. After passing, they had me do an online personality and problem solving test, pass along 3 references (who they called and interviewed about me), and write a short paper on something in recent technology news. My fourth interview was basically covering details of the job. We discussed a start date, starting pay, benefits, training schedule...all sorts of expectations to make sure we were all on the same page. Very low-key conversation. My 5th interview was with two people from the SOC Engineering leadership team. It was a pretty low-key conversation as well. Talked about my resume and past experiences, why I wanted to work for Reliaquest, some random questions like "how would you weight an elephant if you couldn't use a scale". Nothing really technical and a pretty laid-back conversation. After all of that, I was shocked they turned me down for even a job offer. They said they were concerned with how many different careers I had had (3 careers in 5 companies over a 14-year span, if you include this change to cybersecurity) and they were concerned with my technical knowledge because they thought it would take too long for me to get up to speed. Both were somewhat understandable points, but they could have been addressed in the 1st and 3rd interviews rather than dragging me through the entire process. Also, no one in 5 interviews told me those were concerns to let me address them. I thought it was going great, but it turns out they seem like a disorganized mess and were not forthcoming with how they were actually feeling about me.

Applied for two roles, Security Engineer and Security Analyst. About two weeks after applying, a recruiter from their Tampa, FL office reached out via email to schedule the initial phone interview. This was followed by a video interview with the same recruiter, which was mainly a general interview with a couple of technical questions. The next interview was a phone call with two engineering team members who asked only technical questions. After that, I had a phone call with administrative staff who focused on cultural and behavioral questions. Following that interview, I completed an online personality assessment that took approximately two hours. Finally, I was offered a final interview, which was a video interview with two management members from the Las Vegas office. Although I didn't get an offer and the process spanned over two months, everyone involved was very kind and helpful.

The interview had 4 parts. First was a behavioral chat with a recruiter. Then, a technical interview with two engineers. Next, an online test for personality and brain teasers. Finally, a call with two leaders. The technical part wasn't too hard if you know Linux and networking basics. It was a really professional and good interview process. The recruiter was awesome to work with!