Solers Interview Questions
& Process

The interview was short and sweet. They asked me about my background and about linux commands. I was able to talk easily with everyone I interviewed with. It was a chill vibe which made it easy to be myself. The whole thing took about 2 hours, but it was worth it. I learned a lot about the company and how the industry operates. Make sure to come prepared with questions.

I first met a recruiter at a career fair and reached out later about an internship. She got back to me and set up a time to visit their Greenbelt office to meet with three people: a software engineer, a systems engineer, and a technical manager, I think. The office felt a bit plain, but everyone seemed to get along. The engineers mostly asked about my resume projects and my skills, which was pretty basic. No technical questions.

The interview process was pretty standard. The questions asked were all what I anticipated, and none were overly difficult or obscure. During the 1:1 interviews with the staff, the main focus was on my decision-making abilities, my management style, my practical management experience, my technical expertise, and my overall experience. The questions were aimed at understanding my background, my previous work experiences, my past colleagues, my accomplishments, how I handle difficulties, and my approach to leading technical teams. The interview took an unusual turn when I spoke with a senior leader who seemed fixated on my undergraduate degree from 1991. They asked multiple questions about my choice of school, whether I thought it was a good decision, the learning environment there, how well it prepared me, if I had considered other options, and the programming languages I studied. It was hard to connect these questions given my 23 years of experience. The rest of the staff were engaging and intelligent, the office environment was typical, and the company culture and values are appealing. I was enthusiastic about learning more about this company because the culture and team dynamic suggest it's one of those uncommon companies that can earn customer loyalty and respect, leading to strong, lasting relationships. I also feel this company is genuinely involved in researching and implementing cutting-edge technologies, which initially sparked my interest.

Setting up the interview was super easy, just email to find a time that worked. When I got there, I met with four people. First up was the HR recruiter who gave me the rundown of what to expect. Then, I chatted with a software engineer lead who asked me some basic Java questions like abstraction and polymorphism, and also about my previous work. After that, another lead, who was more like an architect, asked me similar questions and talked about my experience. Lastly, the VP of the division came in, told me about the perks, and basically tried to convince me to take the job.