Schonfeld Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process started with a recruiter call, followed by a coding interview that was like a medium leetcode problem. I had to push for an update and then had an hour-long interview with the hiring manager, who asked a lot of questions about my past jobs, resume, and general software engineering knowledge. After another follow-up, I was notified I could move to an onsite interview. This involved five back-to-back interviews with no breaks, covering coding, system design, design patterns, and code reviews. While the onsite itself was positive, the company ghosted me afterward, which was disappointing and felt disrespectful, raising concerns about their culture.

I got connected to the firm through a former colleague. The interviews were very positive and welcoming. The process felt pretty streamlined, focusing on current needs and how I could help fill some gaps. I got a soft offer and heard the teams were finalizing the numbers. After a few weeks of staying in touch and being kept in the loop, I got an automated rejection. What bothered me wasn't the rejection itself, but how it was handled. I felt strung along, with periodic updates from recruiting about package discussions. Then, I got a generic ATS email saying I wasn't a fit 'at this time,' and the whole thing just fell apart. For candidate experience, when you invest in people, at least have the courtesy to call them personally to share the decision and wrap things up nicely. Also, finding a job hasn't been easy for many lately. I hope recruiters can show some empathy. It's become common to have these positive interview processes followed by ghosting or recruiters not having time for basic questions about the firm or potential fits. This one experience really put me off from considering other roles there.

The hiring process moved quickly and felt fair, with clear and upfront communication. I got feedback right away that was detailed. It kicked off with a phone screen, about 30 minutes long, where they asked about my past work and some basic tech stuff to make sure my skills were up-to-date and relevant for the job. Then, two on-site interviews happened pretty close together, and each one had 3 rounds. The difficulty and structure felt about right for a technical interview at a top tech or finance company. They wanted to see how much I knew about high-performance computing, C++, and general software design. A couple of simple coding questions were asked to get things started, but I liked that most of the questions were a good reflection of the actual work. I also got to talk about a past project I picked. Everyone I met was clear, polite, and really skilled. It's a top-notch company with great people and a great interview process.