I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Sonar (Geneva) in Dec 2021
Interview
Very easy interview , i made it till people and cultural fit round.
Each round is transparent and very very easy.
I got doubt while attempting because the questions are for freshers level and repeated for other candidates too.
then after rejection in people and cultural fit interview with very silly reason i came to know that they are not really interested or doing interview to hire a people.
They are conducting interview to get feedback of their products. Lot Companies will spend lot of money in customer review /feedback and advertisement for their products.
And for SonarSource they are investing in interview.
i was so motivated and excited but they rejected with me invalid reason.
Please dont waste your valuable time for this role or company .
I took me a while to come out of the rejection state.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Same questions as it was asked in previous interviews
1st round : Two sum
2nd round : 3hr of coding to build a calculator , objective is to test your SOLID principles and Design Pattern knowledge
I applied online. I interviewed at Sonar (Geneva) in Nov 2025
Interview
1. Codility Test
2. Initial Video Interview (30mins): A brief conversation with HR representative to discuss your background, goals, and motivations.
3. Technical interview (30 mins): Despite completing the technical interview and leaving the session feeling confident, I was informed at the end of the interview that they would not be moving forward before the scheduled sprint stages began.
4. 2-hour Technical Interview
5. 30-minute Cross-functional Interview
6. 20-minute Final Interview with an Engineering Leader
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Codility:
1. Nails and hammer problem: review code and make max 4 fixes. Hammer down at most K nails (maximize the n of nails that end up having the same length)
2. Remove adjacent pairs (a/b and c/d): CBACD -> CBA -> C
3. Binary reduction to zero: if v is odd, subtract 1, if even, divide it by 2 n of operations? 011100 (28) -> 11100 (28) -> 14 -> 7 -> 6 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 -> 0 (7ops)
Technical Interview Questions:
1. Refactoring a Java code snippet: encapsulation, structure, alternative designs.
2. Discussing API usage: which requests to use, sending data in GET requests.
3. Scalability considerations: handling multiple requests, caching, load balancing.
4. Handling nested conditionals and improving code readability.
5. Explaining your approach, thought process, and code decisions throughout the exercises.
Behavioral / Situational Questions:
1.Describe a time a colleague raised a concern about your work and how you addressed it.
2.Explain a situation where you introduced a bug and how you identified and resolved it.
3. Share an example of a challenging situation and how you managed it.
There is usually a first online screening, followed by a short conversation with a recruiter, and then a first technical interview. After that, there is an interview on-site and the people and culture interview.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
What is the difference between checked and unchecked exceptions?
What are the various collections available in the Java standard library? What are their uses cases? What is the complexity of typical operations and why?
First step is a task to test programming skills in Java, followed by 5 to 6 rounds of interviews including HR, team, cultural, and meeting with CEO. The tasks are of moderate difficulty.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
General questions regarding ambitions, previous experiences, etc.
Candidates applying for Java Software Developer roles take an average of 90 days to get hired, when considering 2 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Sonar overall takes an average of 33 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Sonar as a Java Software Developer according to 2 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 33%
Skills test: 33%
Background check: 17%
Personality test: 17%
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