Engineering Manager Interview Experience - San Francisco, California
Process
The process consisted of an initial 1-hour call with a hiring manager, followed by two phone screens: one management-related and one coding.
The coding screen was conducted via Coderpad and involved basic CS concepts.
The onsite consisted of:
- Two paired coding interviews using a real IDE rather than a whiteboard.
- Two additional technical interviews (one on design/architecture, and one asking to "talk us through a significant piece of technical work you did in the past").
- One management interview.
- Meetings with a few hiring managers of teams that had management openings.
The two non-coding technical interviews and the management interview were each conducted by two interviewers.
In total, the onsite was 7 hours, including lunch, which made for a long but enjoyable day. Everyone was very friendly and went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. The day was well-organized and ran on schedule. It was definitely the most polished onsite I had during my job search.
Questions
For technical phone screens, make sure to brush up on CS fundamentals:
- Data structures
- Algorithms
If you make it to the onsite, the recruiter will provide plenty of information regarding what to prep for.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Block Engineering Manager role in San Francisco, California.
Success Rate
Block's interview process for their Engineering Manager roles in San Francisco, California is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Block's Engineering Manager interview process in San Francisco, California.
Block Work Experiences
- 5.0Fun Place, Few ConsEngineering Manager • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJanuary 20, 2025Pros: Fun place to work at.Cons: Not a huge amount of cons.
- 4.0Good Culture, Rough ChangeEngineering Manager • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJanuary 1, 2024Pros: Good engineering culture, going through a rough change.Cons: Going through a rough change, I will come out strong in one year.
- 5.0Square is a great place to learn.Engineering Manager • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesOctober 15, 2014Pros: There are a lot of great engineers at Square. There are also a lot of hard problems to solve, hence there are ample learning opportunities. Taking initiative to solve problems is encouraged, so you can fairly easily grow into the role you want. It's a fast-paced environment with "real" problems.Cons: The company has grown a lot quickly. Some projects and teams have been launched and then cut. However, Square's execs do a good job of identifying issues and course-correcting. There's a decent balance between bottom-up and top-down decision-making.
Block Interview Questions
