Senior Software Engineer II - Big Data Interview Experience - San Francisco, California
October 1, 2016
Negative ExperienceNo Offer
Process
Straight into a technical phone screen with a non-HR employee.
Questions included:
- Discuss Hadoop, HDFS, and blockchain.
- How does MapReduce differ from Spark?
- Discuss Shuffle vs. Sort on MapReduce.
- Discuss Hive.
- How are tables related in a relational database?
- What is the difference between a logical model and a physical model?
- Do you have experience with NoSQL databases, e.g., MongoDB, and what makes them different from a traditional SQL database?
- Do you have experience in Java?
- Have you worked in Agile?
- What's your experience with SCRUM like?
- What does a SCRUM master do?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the American Express Senior Software Engineer II - Big Data role in San Francisco, California.
Success Rate
0%
Pass Rate
American Express's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer II - Big Data roles in San Francisco, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive0%
Neutral0%
Negative100%
Candidates reported having very negative feelings for American Express's Senior Software Engineer II - Big Data interview process in San Francisco, California.
American Express Work Experiences
5.0
Great Balance, Slow Promotion
Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
July 9, 2020
Pros: Amazing work-life balance.
Very cushy job.
Amex tends to hire older, more experienced engineers for their backend, which is nice because these guys are off at 4 o'clock sharp.
Cons: I don't think Amex does a good job promoting from within. Also, for Engineering, it is a very top-down organization.
1.0
Would not recommend
Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
September 22, 2025
Pros: the bar for code is very, very low.
Cons: Management doesn’t care about employees. Often, I have to work IST.
5.0
Solid React Dev, Great Features
Front End Developer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
July 20, 2021
Pros: Worked on an Agile (Scrum) Development Team to deliver internal and user-facing features.
Designed, developed, and tested HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and React.JS based applications that meet accessibility and web browser standards for websites.
Worked in using React JS components.
Cons: Good experience in JavaScript MVC frameworks for front-end applications.
Added dynamic functionality by creating and dispatching action creators that deployed actions.
Developed client-side drop-down menus, search bars, carousels, and drop-down toggles using Bootstrap.
- 5.0Great Balance, Slow PromotionSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJuly 9, 2020Pros: Amazing work-life balance. Very cushy job. Amex tends to hire older, more experienced engineers for their backend, which is nice because these guys are off at 4 o'clock sharp.Cons: I don't think Amex does a good job promoting from within. Also, for Engineering, it is a very top-down organization.
- 1.0Would not recommendSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesSeptember 22, 2025Pros: the bar for code is very, very low.Cons: Management doesn’t care about employees. Often, I have to work IST.
- 5.0Solid React Dev, Great FeaturesFront End Developer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJuly 20, 2021Pros: Worked on an Agile (Scrum) Development Team to deliver internal and user-facing features. Designed, developed, and tested HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and React.JS based applications that meet accessibility and web browser standards for websites. Worked in using React JS components.Cons: Good experience in JavaScript MVC frameworks for front-end applications. Added dynamic functionality by creating and dispatching action creators that deployed actions. Developed client-side drop-down menus, search bars, carousels, and drop-down toggles using Bootstrap.
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