Tulip Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

It kicked off with a phone screen to chat about my background and resume. They asked standard questions like why I wanted to switch jobs, what tech I've used, and just general resume stuff. Next up was a Hacker Rank challenge with two straightforward coding problems. Since the job was for a PHP/MYSQL role, they asked me to do them in PHP. The third stage was an in-person interview with two senior developers, plus a Skype call with their manager. They went over my background and resume again. I had about 45 minutes to an hour for a coding challenge, which was pretty similar to the Hacker Rank one, but I didn't quite nail it (partly nerves). This is where it got rough. Because my experience includes both PHP and Python, I asked if I could use Python for the test, as I'm more comfortable with it. Turns out, I messed up some spacing, which I figured out later. But the second I showed them the code, they grilled me on why I chose Python and why I couldn't solve the Hacker Rank challenge or the test they gave me. I even tried explaining my thought process for solving the problem, but it was like hitting a wall; they kept pushing why I didn't use PHP, even though I told them either was fine. Their manager was cool, really smart, and asked good high-level questions about optimizing solutions, what constitutes good code, and performance metrics. The two senior devs, though, really made the whole experience miserable. Honestly, after leaving, I knew I'd turn down an offer if they made one. Not saying the company is bad, but their developers could use some work on their people skills.

So first there was this quick phone interview, after that I went in person for a technical interview with two senior developers. Finally, a manager I spoke with over the phone about the role and then offered me the job. The in-person technical interview was really chill, we chatted a lot about my previous work since they were interested in some of it.

The interview was conducted over Skype. It started with an overview of the role and the company. Then, I was asked to talk about myself, my past experiences, and my knowledge of different tech stacks. Following that, there were two technical questions involving basic programming and writing SQL queries.