I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Affirm (San Francisco, CA) in Jun 2016
Interview
I was contacted by the recruiter to set up an interview . The tech phone screen was a nice question - checking algos and data stucture, something about a matrix. The interviewer was absolutely great and we had a good discussion at the end and he answered all my questions. I was immediately contacted for setting up an onsite interview. I was sent an email saying you will have a two hour coding interview, but was given no other information about the schedule, who I would be interviewing with and what is expected from the interviews. You are going in completely blind and that was not something I was comfortable with. Also the lunch interview was scheduled with two people and it was really awkward. I understand that a lunch interview is just a conversation and culture fit test but sometimes the two interviewers would start talking to each other and you wouldn't fit into the conversation at all. It was really weird. Also got a couple of one word answers. And then after two more interviews, I was asked to leave. Which is fine since I did not do great in the last round. The last round only focussed on infrastructure questions, even though I had made it clear that that's not something we work on everyday. So be prepared to dissect your entire infrastructure pipeline when you go here. They are very gentle and polite when they ask you to leave, so its similar to receiving a rejection by email, so that is very considerate of them.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Recursive and iterative way to flatten a list, given [1, [2,3], [[[4]]]], return [1,2,3,4].
overall it was not very professional. interviewers were disinterested, unfriendly, and distracted. i didn't continue but honestly the vibe was quite bad. Only applied for the salary anyway so whatever.
First a call (no video) with HR to gather the typical first details. Second a technical test, sharing screen of a problem. The problem is shared at the interview moment.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
For HR typical stuff, for the technical one a problem about dealing with some json records.
This was one of the worst experiences I’ve had interviewing at a company. The recruiter was completely disrespectful of my time and ghosted me for days on end even though I pushed back offer deadlines for them.
After the initial tech screen I emailed the recruiter letting them know I have an offer deadline. No response or acknowledgment, I sent 1 follow-up email as I was on a tight deadline and again no response. The recruiter then sends me a template “you passed the tech screen” email, ignoring my prior emails about my deadline. After a third email they finally acknowledge my deadline and tell me there won’t be sufficient time to get me through the process. He agrees getting an extension on my offer deadlines would make sense, which I proceeded to get. After doing the next step in their process (HM screen) and it going well, the recruiter then proceeds to ghost me for 10 days, ignores my 2 follow-up emails regarding my extension deadline approaching and later sends me a template rejection email. Mind you, this was after getting an extension for them. 0 respect for my time and a complete disregard for me as a candidate. If a recruiter doesn’t even have the courtesy to respond to your emails, what does that say about the company itself?
For the actual interview process it was tech screen, HM screen, then a virtual onsite that includes another HM behavioural and coding interview.
The tech screen was simple, but the question was long. It was done on HackerRank with two engineers proctoring the interview. HM screen went well but I was rejected after it. Overall everyone was pleasant during the interviews, but my opinion of the company was soured by the recruiter.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Practical coding question for the tech screen and basic behavioural questions during the HM screen
Software Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Affirm with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 52% positive. To compare, the company-average is 58.6% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Engineer roles take an average of 25 days to get hired, when considering 88 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Affirm overall takes an average of 26 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Affirm as a Software Engineer according to 88 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 39%
One on one interview: 26%
Skills test: 14%
Presentation: 6%
Group panel interview: 5%
Drug test: 3%
Personality test: 3%
Background check: 2%
Other: 2%
IQ intelligence test: 1%
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