A Square recruiter contacted me a few weeks (4-5) after I applied via their careers site. We had the standard recruiter call to ensure I was still looking for work that matched their openings, and we moved onto a technical phone screen interview.

The phone screen lasted just over an hour. It involved standard pair programming on a simple problem, with the interviewer guiding the process to ensure nothing was missed, and time for questions at the end.

After the phone screen, I was invited for an on-site interview. The on-site consisted of multiple problems, grouped by type across the entire day.

I completed:

• Three coding problems (pair programmed with two mice, two keyboards, and one monitor).
• Two architecture design problems (one new problem, and one discussing a project from my resume).
• A discussion with two engineering managers, which was more about them answering my remaining questions than an interview of me.

There was also a quick tour of the building before my interviews, a quite delicious lunch, and then a chat with the recruiter after all meetings concluded. This chat was to answer any additional questions and provide me with a timeline on when to expect a response.

The coding interviews (placed back-to-back and before the architecture problems) on-site were explained very well, and any issues were easy to address. Having the interviewer sit next to me, with a keyboard at their hands as well, rather than across a table, made the process feel much smoother.

Overall, the interview process was very quick and enjoyable (as interviews go). I had requested the dates be sooner rather than later, and they were very accommodating. The style in which the on-site was conducted was one of the best experiences I have had interviewing.

How would you design all of the pieces for the website [REDACTED].com?

Backend?

API(s)?

Third-party communication?