Financial Software Developer Interview Experience - London, United Kingdom
Process
I think their selection process is very fast. After sending my application, they asked me to take an online assessment on Java (the language I chose).
If you don't know Java very well, it's difficult, but Google can help! :)
Then, I was asked to take a phone interview. They sent me this file:
Dependent on programming language proficiency, you can be asked technical questions around, but not restricted to, the following areas:
C
- Pointers
- Variable types/scope
- Program architecture (memory, stack, heap, registers, etc.)
- Read/write small code examples.
OO & C++
- Object-Oriented Design
- C++ constructs that support OO
Java
- Objects and Classes
- Java Virtual Machine
UNIX
- Unix architecture (file system, piping, stdin, stdout, stderr, etc.)
- Basic commands
Data structures & Run-time analysis
- Basic data structures
- Run-time analysis of data structures
Now, I stated my proficiency language was Java, but the phone interview was about C. They asked about pointers, heap/stack, bitwise operations, and hashtables. I have not been programming C for more than 1 year, so it was more a memory exercise than a job interview.
A hint: They actually work with C++ and C under Unix, so I suggest choosing C directly and refreshing that language instead of bothering with Java.
Questions
What is a hash table?
What if I have multiple values which hash to the same value?
How can I count the bits set to 1 in an integer?
What if I want to optimize the process to work with several integers?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 29 interview experiences for the Bloomberg LP Financial Software Developer role in London, United Kingdom.
Success Rate
Bloomberg LP's interview process for their Financial Software Developer roles in London, the United Kingdom is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Bloomberg LP's Financial Software Developer interview process in London, United Kingdom.
Bloomberg LP Work Experiences
- 3.0Benefits are great. Work experience depends on the luck of the drawFinancial Software Developer • Former EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesNovember 30, 2011Pros: 1. Great Benefits. Besides food and health, there are also many great educational opportunities. 2. Smart People. Most of the people working here are intelligent and a pleasure to work with.Cons: 1. Career paths are almost non-existent, but senior management has been taking many steps over the last few months to fix this. It needs to be seen how this plays out over the next few months. 2. Work experience depends on the team you are in. Some of the teams are really great, but some of them are pretty bad too. 3. Politics. The internal politics can be really bad (again, some teams are better than others). 4. By and large, software practices range from poor to mediocre. There are a few teams that are an exception to this (the infrastructure teams are really great, but product teams tend to be far more "hack a fix, then worry about negative consequences later." The infrastructure team, OTOH, uses top-notch software engineering practices). 5. The company is a weird mix of transparent, yet opaque. There is a huge effort to appear transparent, but where most important decisions, even at the lowermost levels, are concerned, the decision-making process is very opaque.
- 2.0Good first job, but boring and unsatisfying workplaceFinancial Software Developer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesMay 1, 2012Pros: Great salary and vacation time. A 12-week training program brings your coding up to speed. Good snacks and beverages. I got to move to NYC and be able to afford it.Cons: Most technology is relatively old. A lot of work is maintenance of code written 10, 15, 20 years ago. Not much room for innovation, especially when all projects are on extremely tight deadlines.
- 4.0Good place to work, but it won't keep you satisfiedFinancial Software Developer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesDecember 16, 2008Pros: Bloomberg as a workplace has not had the best reputation in the past, but a lot of that has changed. It is a very open kind of place, which some people like and some do not.Cons: A problem is that a lot of talented programmers leave because they are really not challenged there. As a quant, Bloomberg will not necessarily be the brightest star on your resume, regardless of famous quants that consult there.
Bloomberg LP Interview Questions
