I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Salesforce (Dublin, Dublin) in Mar 2020
Interview
The process consisted of a first call with the recruiter, a coding screening session and then a set of four other virtual/onsite interviews.
The technical interviews were the usual boring and pointless codility tests. On one hand they are not strict on getting everything right, which is good, but on the other hand these tests are close to be totally useless, so rather then removing them, they throw one more at you hoping that this would provide (self induced) "signals". On the architectural question: I'm not sure about the value of forcing someone to make final decisions in 10 mins on something that should be well thought and would require at least a couple of cycles to fully understand the requirements within the company. I'm sure they would claim that there is some super smart reason for that nobody can get, not even real psychologist and subject matter experts.
Anyways, I was rejected for lack of an unspecified experience/skill which, if I understand correctly, I was anyway capable of, but didn't bother to ask or investigate. No questions on real world experience, all of their questions could be answered by an unexperienced engineer with a bit of codility and youtube "training". I guess this is what they are actually looking for, despite the job title.
Overall, nice people, I enjoyed one interviewer especially, very friendly, helpful and transparent. I'm sure the company and the environment is good, but... their interview process isn't effective (I doubt this leads to good hiring decisions) and wasted my time, as they could have stopped me early on, or simply asked meaningful questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is a CI/CD pipeline? software quality? And codility, high level architectural questions.
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Salesforce (Indianapolis, IN) in Feb 2020
Interview
1. Phone screen with an HR phone screen.
2. Phone screen with hiring manager.
3. 1.5 coding test with 2 questions.
4. 5 hour onsite interview. 4 of them were 1 on 1. The last one was with a couple of the team members.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I was asked to whiteboard FizBuzz. (Seemed pretty trivial for the position)
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Salesforce (Denver, CO) in Dec 2019
Interview
Step-1: Phone Interview
Manager calls to give brief description about the position, team and want to learn about your career goals and see how you could align with Ohana principles. Also some basic questions as per the job requirements. For example inheritance vs composition etc. Be prepared to explain your current work and also why you would like to join SFDC.
Step-2 : Hacker Rank coding test
Q: Related to graphs.
Time: 3hrs
Note: Unlike other coding tests it's a maven project and expected to write unit tests as well. Maintain good coding principles as much as possible.
Step-3: Onsite
Multiple Rounds that includes but not limited to
- Problem solving
- Data Structures
- Code debugging
- System Design
Time: Approx 6Hrs
This is the best interview experience I ever had. Recruiter is very professional and prompt starting from scheduling the interviews to rolling out an offer.
I felt more like my typical work day rather than an interview. "#1 Best company to work" for a reason. Interviewers are really nice and friendly. In fact that made me feel relaxed and give my best. Keep talking while you try to solve the problem and ask clarifications, if needed. IMO approach means a lot over actually solving it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Signed NDA.
But questions are focused on basic fundamentals that test your analytical skills and data structures knowledge.