Vivint Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

A Vivint recruiter reached out, and I had my initial phone screening with them. After that, I did a technical screening phone interview with a dev manager, which I felt went pretty well. Then, I was brought in for a series of interviews, meeting with about 6 managers in pairs for 3 separate 1-hour sessions. The first session was a technical interview, and the other two focused on company fit and my personality. Those seemed to go okay. I then had a debrief with the recruiter who told me it all went well and they wanted me to come back for more interviews. A few days later, I returned and had two more interviews with three additional managers/directors. I believe those also went well. I mentioned to everyone that I thought they liked me and that they would follow up. After a few days, the recruiter contacted me again, saying they were still making a decision. About a week after my last interview, they called and informed me they had decided to hire a candidate with less experience and a lower salary expectation, who they felt would be a better fit for the role. They were really nice about it, and overall, the experience was positive.

I had a phone screen with a technical lead and did well. They gave me a coding challenge to implement a game. Afterward, they asked about my availability for an onsite interview, which I set for a couple of weeks out. The recruiter confirmed the details. Before the interview, the recruiter called to let me know multiple teams were interested and asked if I could do a 4-hour block, which I agreed to. The interview started with a facility tour and product overview. I was overdressed in a button-down shirt and tie, as most interviewers were casual, some even in shorts. I began with a panel of 7-8 interviewers, a mix of junior and senior architects, who asked mostly technical questions for about an hour. I really enjoyed this part. Then, unexpectedly, a second panel of 5-6 interviewers joined, including senior management and junior/mid-level engineers. This session focused more on conceptual and knowledge-based questions. I missed one question but answered the others correctly. After that, I had lunch with the original tech lead, discussing interests and motivations. The lunch was cut short for a final interview, surprisingly another panel with 7-8 engineers from a different team. This went well until the last question: coding a tree traversal on a whiteboard after lunch and three hours of interviews. I struggled a bit but solved it in under 30 minutes, though the panel acted like an anal compiler, pointing out errors. After the coding, we discussed compensation and career growth. I felt positive about the team's reception. About two weeks later, I emailed the interviewers and recruiter. The next day, the recruiter called, but instead of an offer, they said they hired another candidate who was a better fit, though the feedback was positive, calling me competent and knowledgeable. I suspect internal team conflicts might have led to them not hiring anyone, or perhaps the roles were in areas I wanted to grow into, despite the job ads saying experience was optional. The teams seemed competent and relaxed, and I could see myself working there.

I've never been so impressed with a company's recruiting process. Everyone I spoke with was so friendly, professional, and helpful. The recruiter always got back to my emails within a few hours and was super transparent about the entire process. I never felt like I was left in the dark. I went on site three times and met with several engineers from the team I was applying for, as well as many other employees from different departments. I had one interview that was purely technical, but the rest of the time was spent making sure that my goals and expectations were aligned with theirs. I was so excited to get an offer, but I ended up accepting another offer that was too good to pass up. I can definitely see myself joining Vivint later in my career. I was extremely impressed by the company and felt very comfortable with the engineers. I would highly recommend the company to anyone thinking about applying.