#process Bloomberg offer
novel tulip
September 2022
sleek lichen
Congrats!
Can you share how was the interview process?
novel tulip
Yeah, sure thing!
So, I applied in late May - it took two weeks to get a response; I was invited for a technical phone screen. You're directed to the website to select your desired slot; there were plenty available as far as 2-3 weeks out. All technical interviews roughly followed roughly this format:
• 5-10 minutes for introductions, a few questions about my resume and interesting projects, plus "why Bloomberg"
• A simple, untagged LC-style question with a HackerRank code pad
• 15 minutes at the end for questions about the company.
I scheduled the phone screen for a Friday and received positive feedback on Tuesday - very quick turnaround. I was invited to a Zoom-based on-site technical interview with two engineers, which I scheduled for one week out via email with my recruiter. (The entry level engineering recruiting team were absolutely stellar and got back to me almost immediately every single time I had a question about the process, so take every opportunity to understand what they're looking for and don't be afraid to ask for help).
The on-site technical interview followed much the same structure, with slightly more in-depth questions on my resume and motivations, before the problem was presented to me - again another untagged LC, I would consider it a medium. Same style, REACTO method worked perfectly here. Time for questions at the end as well.
I received feedback from this interview in three hours - they're lightning fast. I was invited to a systems design round, which I hadn't been exposed to before - I asked the recruiter for some advice on what I would be expected to do, and they gave a really solid response. Roughly, you'll probably be trying to design some existing element of the Bloomberg Terminal, with a high-level discussion of any algorithms required, and then more of a focus on that systems design aspect. (continued below...)
In the week before my systems design round I received an exploding offer from Wise, which was due to blow up before the Bloomberg interview process was complete (eek!) - I emailed the recruiter explaining the situation and they were extremely accommodating, offering to move both the systems design round and the as-yet-unseen engineering manager round to the same day in order to meet that deadline (extremely grateful to them for doing that).
Finally, engineering manager round was basically a super in-depth resume review, where you're not necessarily being asked technical questions but your exposure to software engineering teams and processes, how you deal with conflicts, how your experience has shaped what you want out of your team and your career
I wrote a nice email to the recruiter after those rounds were completed (back-to-back, so I was exhausted after!) - they expedited the feedback process and got a decision back to me within 24 hours (incredible, to be honest). The recruiter scheduled a feedback call with me and extended an offer!
So yeah, that's my experience of the process. Let me know if you have any questions - I won't be revealing what I was specifically asked in the technical rounds, but if I had to offer some advice, study the NeetCode 150 / Blind 75, be ready for anything, and try to get some broad exposure to a variety of different DS/A problems
I think the biggest ask is all about communication; you need to be able to constantly describe and articulate your thoughts, discuss tradeoffs between different approaches, and collaborate with your interviewer. They're not expecting perfect knowledge, just the ability to get close to a solution, and take a hint or two well if you need them.
tl;dr: phone screen -> 90 min leetcode -> 90 min system design -> 60 min engineering manager -> HR feedback call
sage cypress
bro, the system design was OOD, or high level design ?
novel tulip
I didn't have to write any code for mine, so I would say all high-level design. I did describe the structure of the data I was working with and how that influences the design.
Your mileage may, of course, vary.
sage cypress
Thanks bro, was it 1 LC question per interview ? and did they told you beforehand that they will ask only 1 ?
novel tulip
Yes, one LC question for phone and on-site technical. I've heard of people getting two, this may vary by location / interviewer. I wasn't told how many I would be asked beforehand.
Both of the problems I was asked had enough scope to expand in multiple different directions, and if you have the knowledge to go deep enough you can probably fill the time for the single problem.
sage cypress
read on some posts that, they got rejected just becoz the interviewer was not able to ask 2nd question
novel tulip
Weird - maybe that's for a different location then? I applied for London.
sage cypress
ohhh, I am interviewing for NYC
novel tulip
Yeah, best to ask your recruiter about the format of your interview if that's something you're not sure about.
I should mention, both my LC and system design rounds were 90 minutes - all of that time was used up in both cases.
haughty marsh
Hello! Since you mentioned they use Hackerrank, do they place a lot of emphasis in being able to run the final solution?
novel tulip
No, your code does not get run. The interviewer may ask you to dry run through your solution on an example, before or after you code.
haughty marsh
I see, thank you!
novel tulip
🙂
I really struggled to find information on the whole process, so hopefully this is helpful to those of you applying
haughty marsh
Do they provide an initial base structure and examples for the technical interview questions they ask? Eg. The function definition and a sample example or is it up to the interviewee to ask a lot of questions?
haughty marsh
I really struggled to find information on the whole process, so hopefully this i...
Really appreciate it! 😄
boreal atlas
congrats homie!!
novel tulip
Do they provide an initial base structure and examples for the technical intervi...
I was given an example input only and had to design everything from scratch.
meager solar
Is it true that they’re looking at how you communicate during coding instead of running it perfectly?
I’ve got an interview coming up for London, quite nervous about it not gonna lie 😃
novel tulip
Yes, I would say so! The code I wrote was never run, but I was expected to be able to do a dry run against an example input and explain how everything worked
haughty marsh
How long did you spend preparing before scheduling your first interview?
novel tulip
I was preparing for a series of interviews with other companies, I would say over 6-8 weeks of LC prep
I gave myself two weeks to prep for each interview, roughly
sleek lichen
Thanks a lot @novel tulip
novel tulip
Glad to help, and best of luck to all of you 😄
Maybe I'll see you all in the office, who knows!
outer flint
Just wanted to say your answer was so thorough and well-put. Thanks for providing this info!
novel tulip
Thank you, glad I could help! 🙂
The one thing that kills me about interviewing is there's never enough insight into the process to feel comfortable; anything we can do to make it easier for ourselves as talented software engineers is a good thing
No doubt we're all competent at what we do (as much as it might not feel that way sometimes, damned impostor syndrome)
And what I will say is that the Bloomberg recruiters made it feel like they wanted to see the best you could offer, and gave help and advice to that end - something I haven't really seen from anyone else
The FAANGs probably do that too
haughty marsh
Thank you again!
Adding to this thread, does anyone want to do mock interviews together in preparation for an upcoming bloomberg interview?