Top Hat Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Recruiter screening call first. Then, two F2F interviews were scheduled. If the first one is cleared, then you are allowed to continue to the second one. The first one was algorithmic and the second one was a pairing interview. My advice is to have your IDE setup and running beforehand, as interviewers have very limited time. Try to finish each question quickly. I was able to get through the algorithmic part because I had my IDE ready. It seems solving more questions in the given hour increases your chances. This was my first time doing a pairing interview and I didn't have my machine set up correctly. I had the IDE, but Postman was not set up, which was my mistake. The interviewer also expected me to have my own database set up. I think they should have informed me about the DB setup or provided access. I wasted a lot of time on that. So, make sure you have that ready.

The interview process was pretty long. It included a recruiter chat, then a code screen, followed by a paired programming session, a system design interview, an IQ test, and finally a culture interview. The process was fine until the IQ and culture parts. I'm not sure about the IQ test's effectiveness since I don't think it relates to being a good engineer. After passing the IQ test, I had a 2-hour culture interview with the hiring manager. They asked a lot of personal questions about my life since high school, like what clubs I joined, my hobbies, favorite subjects, and even the names and emails of past managers. What really bothered me was being asked about my personal relationships with previous bosses. Even though I got an offer, I turned it down because the culture interview felt like an interrogation. This company felt invasive and didn't respect my privacy. I wouldn't recommend applying here. If you can get through their interviews, you might as well apply to top companies like Amazon, Shopify, or Instacart because it's easier there, you'll work with better people (they seem to promote unqualified juniors to leads), and get paid more fairly.

It began with Kelly the recruiter calling me to chat about my past experience and what working at Top Hat is like. Then, I had a pairing session with two engineers where we designed and coded a small backend service using a framework of my choice. After that, two other engineers interviewed me, focusing on algorithms in a language I picked, and then I got to ask them about the engineering culture. Kelly kept me updated after each interview with feedback and info on what's next. The final step was a behavioral interview with a director and a manager. They asked about my time in university and my previous work, and I asked them questions about the company and engineering. I got an offer, negotiated, and accepted.