Block

Software Engineer New Grad Interview Experience - Canada

February 8, 2013

Positive ExperienceNo Offer

Process

If memory serves me right, there were (not necessarily in order) three phone calls: one HR and two technical. This was followed by a bunch of on-site interviews.

The recruiter was really friendly and helpful, and so were the two Skype interviewers. There was also a code assignment.

The on-site portion was nerve-wracking and quite tiring. They provided lunch, which was nice, with lots of vegan options. Their pair programming technique is good, as it feels more "real" than whiteboard coding.

Questions

Server setup
Rotate matrix
Implement a queue
Keep track of friends' money (who owes whom)
Return subsets of a string

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Block Software Engineer New Grad role in Canada.

Success Rate

0%

Pass Rate

Block's interview process for their Software Engineer New Grad roles in Canada is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive100%

Neutral0%

Negative0%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Block's Software Engineer New Grad interview process in Canada.

Block Work Experiences

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Solid Silicon Valley role

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Cons: - Ownership ambiguity - Re-orgs - Project direction

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Cons: During my time with the company, there was beef between engineers and management. Management was not fully transparent about performance reviews and not on the ground enough to direct the team in the right direction. Also, there was a lot of turnover in the last month of my time.

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Cons: During my time with the company, there was beef between engineers and management. Management was not fully transparent about performance reviews and not on the ground enough to direct the team in the right direction. Also, there was a lot of turnover in the last month of my time.

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Senior Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee

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Pros: Solving difficult problems and high pay.

Cons: Completely ineffective executive leadership, nonsensical and ever-shifting product strategy, endless layoffs, the beatings will continue until morale improves, etc.

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Pros: I got a real nice mix of front-end and back-end work. I was also lucky in that I was placed on a very good team that had plenty of smart people on it. My colleagues on my team were very helpful, and I built a good relationship with everyone on the team.

Cons: During my time with the company, there was beef between engineers and management. Management was not fully transparent about performance reviews and not on the ground enough to direct the team in the right direction. Also, there was a lot of turnover in the last month of my time.

4.0
Square: chill work, awesome culture, not particularly difficult
Software Engineering Intern • Former Employee
November 14, 2022
Pros: I got a real nice mix of front-end and back-end work. I was also lucky in that I was placed on a very good team that had plenty of smart people on it. My colleagues on my team were very helpful, and I built a good relationship with everyone on the team.
Cons: During my time with the company, there was beef between engineers and management. Management was not fully transparent about performance reviews and not on the ground enough to direct the team in the right direction. Also, there was a lot of turnover in the last month of my time.

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Cons: Completely ineffective executive leadership, nonsensical and ever-shifting product strategy, endless layoffs, the beatings will continue until morale improves, etc.

Block Interview Questions

Rotating the Box

Simulate a box tilting to the right, causing stones to fall until they hit obstacles or the floor. Re-arrange the characters in a given grid to reflect the resulting state of the box.

ArraysStringsTwo Pointers

Available Captures for Rook

On a chessboard, find how many pawns a rook can capture in one move. The rook can move horizontally or vertically until it hits an obstacle or the edge of the board.

Count Nice Pairs in an Array

You're given an array of numbers. Find how many pairs of numbers in the array satisfy a specific 'nice' property determined by reversing their digits and comparing them.

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