United States Digital Service Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 8 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at United States Digital Service.
United States Digital Service
Software Engineer
Entry Average Neutral experience No offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Take home Technical screen
Interview formats
Technical Coding
I got a call from a recruiter. Then I had to do a take-home assessment where I built an app based on requirements. I didn't hear back after that, but there were supposed to be 2-3 more technical rounds about the assessment and my resume.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Complete the take home assessment based on requirements
United States Digital Service
Software Engineer
Mid Average Positive experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral Coding
I had a call with a recruiter and then a technical + behavioral interview with a USDS engineer which included open questions and a coding exercise. I didn't get to the final round cause their availability was sparse and I got other offers. The first round was scheduled far out and the second took at least 2 months. The recruiter was nice but the technical interviewer seemed off, though they did seem impressed. I wasn't super fast on the coding exercise but answered the open questions well. They mentioned salary could go up to $183K if I was already making that.
Confirmed questions8 questions
- What makes you want to work for USDS?
- Can you describe your engineering background?
- If a critical bug was discovered in production, what steps would you take to resolve it?
United States Digital Service
Software Engineer
Senior Easy Neutral experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Phone screen
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Coding System Design
A recruiter reached out about a Software Engineer role at USDS needing 10 YoE, but I only had 6. The recruiter pushed me to apply anyway. First, there was a screening call with someone else where I discussed my past and current work and answered behavioral questions like 'greatest strength/weakness'. Then, I had an hour-long technical screen with a USDS dev. It involved one coding problem in VS Code Live Share (language of my choice), which was pretty easy. After that, there were three architecture/design questions that felt very open-ended, and the interviewer struggled to get more details or rephrase. I wish they'd be more direct. The coding problem itself wasn't the focus, and I didn't even bother fully testing it because they said pseudocode was fine. I'm worried that might be why I was rejected, especially since I wrote a variable wrong. It's frustrating because I've done way more complex stuff. The feds are strict, so it's likely the YoE or not using the right keywords for the open-ended questions. I'd actually prefer FAANG-style LeetCode. And to top it off, you have to wait a year to reapply after rejection. This whole experience is making me salty.
Confirmed questions3 questions
- How would you approach fixing a critical bug discovered in production?
- Explain what the cloud is to a non-technical business executive.
- Tell me about a time you drove a significant positive business change despite facing considerable opposition.
United States Digital Service Software Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from United States Digital Service interview reports.
“Write a function to compress a string by indicating consecutive character counts and the character, assuming only upper and lower case letters.”
Read reports →“How could you set up a data sharing agreement with a vendor if your cloud provider restricts data from leaving their environment?”
Read reports →“Explain what the cloud is to a non-technical business executive.”
Read reports →“Explain the concept of cloud computing to a non-technical business executive.”
Read reports →“Can you explain the cloud to someone who isn't technical?”
Read report →“Imagine a large company with legacy technology. How would you scale their database to 100 instances and what challenges might arise?”
Read report →“Could you explain the pros and cons of cloud infrastructure to a high-ranking government official?”
Read report →“If a critical bug was discovered in production, what steps would you take to resolve it?”
Read report →“How would you approach fixing a critical bug discovered in production?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 8 United States Digital Service interview reports.