Software Engineer Interview Experience - San Francisco, California
June 1, 2018
Negative ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I interviewed for a software engineering position. Recruiter call went well and they set me up for the first round on CoderPad. That went well; the interviewer was very nice and the interview went well. I set up the second round pretty soon, and this was a really bad experience. The interviewer was curt and, while I was implementing my solution, cut me off midway and just told me that they would follow up with the recruiter. I understand if someone is doing terribly or plain failing, they would do that, but I had a working solution. Did not get a chance to optimize my solution or ask any questions. I think Square needs to train its engineers to be polite and pretend to be engaged in the process. That's the least they can do.
Questions
Binary trees.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 59 interview experiences for the Block Software Engineer role in San Francisco, California.
Success Rate
25%
Pass Rate
Block's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in San Francisco, California is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive56%
Neutral20%
Negative24%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Block's Software Engineer interview process in San Francisco, California.
Block Work Experiences
3.0
Awful internship program, great team
Software Engineer • Former Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
October 20, 2020
Pros: Wonderful manager who understood people on the team and genuinely cared about them. Absolute best part of the summer.
Got to have the full software engineer experience, doing code reviews, pushing PRs for the first time.
Great feeling empowering small businesses.
Cons: There are a LOT of cons with the internship program.
The recruiters didn’t make much of an effort to accommodate us remotely other than keep our housing stipend, which was then slashed in half.
Then, we were only given our housing stipend biweekly because “what if an intern decided to quit midway through,” making it incredibly hard to afford rent.
If you're wondering, it was $1000 a MONTH before tax so ~$600 after tax, barely anything to survive on.
When asked if we could get a sweatshirt, one of the interns had to personally spend time out of their workday creating it and trying to secure funds for us because the recruiters didn't and weren't willing to.
Hack Week also showed me how backwards Square’s priorities were: we created an app that everyone outside the company considered incredibly groundbreaking and useful, and the judges didn't even give us the time of day.
Overall, I was incredibly unsatisfied with the intern program and I strongly discourage you from being an intern.
Oh, and this was all while Square was rebounding after the COVID crash (stock price was rising so quickly) and there was no need for them to cut corners anymore, but still essentially no budget for making the intern program meaningful at all.
Very bad experience with the intern program, highly suggest avoiding.
1.0
Seller org sucks
Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
March 14, 2022
Pros: People are respectful and easy to work with.
Cons: Zero innovation! Bad leadership and plagued by politics. Too many old timers who are just coasting.
5.0
Inspiring Purpose, Humble Coworkers
Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
April 16, 2020
Pros: The number one thing I love about working at Square is that our company's purpose, economic empowerment, is so front and center. Especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, watching the company rally together and find ways to help small businesses is really inspiring.
Other pros:
* Great work-life balance
* Great medical coverage
* Beautiful Oakland office
* Generally humble and amazing coworkers
* Humanity-first culture.
Cons: No dinner.
COVID-19 is hurting our customers.
Political echo chamber.
- 3.0Awful internship program, great teamSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesOctober 20, 2020Pros: Wonderful manager who understood people on the team and genuinely cared about them. Absolute best part of the summer. Got to have the full software engineer experience, doing code reviews, pushing PRs for the first time. Great feeling empowering small businesses.Cons: There are a LOT of cons with the internship program. The recruiters didn’t make much of an effort to accommodate us remotely other than keep our housing stipend, which was then slashed in half. Then, we were only given our housing stipend biweekly because “what if an intern decided to quit midway through,” making it incredibly hard to afford rent. If you're wondering, it was $1000 a MONTH before tax so ~$600 after tax, barely anything to survive on. When asked if we could get a sweatshirt, one of the interns had to personally spend time out of their workday creating it and trying to secure funds for us because the recruiters didn't and weren't willing to. Hack Week also showed me how backwards Square’s priorities were: we created an app that everyone outside the company considered incredibly groundbreaking and useful, and the judges didn't even give us the time of day. Overall, I was incredibly unsatisfied with the intern program and I strongly discourage you from being an intern. Oh, and this was all while Square was rebounding after the COVID crash (stock price was rising so quickly) and there was no need for them to cut corners anymore, but still essentially no budget for making the intern program meaningful at all. Very bad experience with the intern program, highly suggest avoiding.
- 1.0Seller org sucksSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesMarch 14, 2022Pros: People are respectful and easy to work with.Cons: Zero innovation! Bad leadership and plagued by politics. Too many old timers who are just coasting.
- 5.0Inspiring Purpose, Humble CoworkersSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesApril 16, 2020Pros: The number one thing I love about working at Square is that our company's purpose, economic empowerment, is so front and center. Especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, watching the company rally together and find ways to help small businesses is really inspiring. Other pros: * Great work-life balance * Great medical coverage * Beautiful Oakland office * Generally humble and amazing coworkers * Humanity-first culture.Cons: No dinner. COVID-19 is hurting our customers. Political echo chamber.
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