Interview Stages: 1st: Telephone 2nd: Telephone & Hacker Rank 3rd: In-person multiple face-to-face 2-on-1

If they don't send you to HR by the end of the 3rd interview, you weren't hired.

Recruiter called me after I applied on some website. They were nice and convincing, but as time wore on, I was less convinced applying to BB was a good idea because I'm super creative, and BB is super crufty financials. They aggressively pursued me, saying things like, "Why would you turn down half a million bucks?" or "I see, you want to throw money away." Even though I said "No" several times, they continually called me until I gave in when it was said BB would pay for my travel. I have family in the area and thought it would be a good chance to see if I could land a job there. At the same time, I could keep costs low because they were able to keep me in their basement for a few months to get my start.

Entire time, I was told repeatedly by the recruiter that I would be reimbursed. I asked about this and that, and the other thing; I heard, "They'll pay for travel and for meals." Then came the interview, and I was sort of pushed into the wrong interview. There were 6 teams hiring, but I picked one initially and interviewed. Then the recruiter asked me not to pick that one because they had trouble in the past. I shrugged and picked Security. Not a good fit. Even though the interview ended with me and the hiring manager assessing the situation and coming to a mutual agreement that it was probably not the best position for me, especially since the recruiter like popped a question on me at the last minute about what department I wanted, then told me no when I gave him my answer -- then had me meet with one of the most uncreative teams on the list. Mutual dissatisfaction, and the hiring manager said they'd seen it before from "that recruiter."

Keep in mind, BB software engineers are paid more than 180k after just a couple of years, and their daily job is to babysit a single function on the BB back-end, go to the gym, and eat snacks no managers at BB want them to even have. You get a 6-month bonus of 25k in cash, and the recruiter makes a 30k finder's fee if you last that long.

The recruiter asked for reimbursement requests. I made up a sheet and provided receipts (exported emails, photographs). After turning in the info to the recruiter, the recruiter wrote back, and I didn't notice that the recruiter had sent it to someone @ Accounts Payable. AP refused it and said I needed to fill out and sign a specific form. On the form, at the bottom, it says they reserve the right to refuse any item but will write a check and list the items they didn't pay. It also says you have to turn it in within 1 month of your interview date to your recruitment contact. Well, I didn't notice this because the recruiter didn't say anything leading into the email -- just forwarded me the AP email with a blank body -- it wasn't obvious I had to do anything. I reread it about a month later, realized that's why I hadn't seen a check. I wrote back, sent in the receipts along with the printed email. AP immediately rejected it, said I filled out the form wrong, that they wouldn't accept it, and that I should turn it in again, filled out correctly this time, and on top of that, was mean to the recruiter about it. AP said I needed receipts and bank statements to have it processed (though I provided receipts).

So I went and got those things -- statements, receipts... had to wait another 15 days for a receipt from one of my travel tickets. I turned it in with a complete picture of everything I had spent, and itemized, categorized travel costs - Gas, Food, Travel (tickets), no hotels (I stayed with family). Due to a blizzard, the stay lasted 3 weeks. I didn't expect them to pay every item, but I provided a clear picture. The recruiter sent it in without looking at it, then they wrote back and said, "Shouldn't have sent that," and it was rejected. AP told me to fill out the form again. AP said I needed bank statements and receipts, and the recruiter hinted that they weren't going to pay for all meals. The quote from the recruiter (not allowed to talk to Accounts Payable directly or something; AP keeps referring to me in the third person even though I emailed once directly) was, "None of this flies." The recruiter starts calling me and emails asking me to turn in receipts as though I had never turned in any. Won't clarify what receipts. The recruiter says they won't pay for the extra week and that they only needed me for that one day. The recruiter said they talked to AP and got a list of items they would approve: 1 night in a hotel, tickets there and back, "Travel Costs" and nothing else, blah blah blah.

Well, it also says on their form that you can turn in everything, and they will pick and choose. After spending about 10-15 hours on this, I give up. Probably what they wanted. Sent the same form back to them twice, for a total of 3 submissions, and a Kafkaesque runaround. So don't expect much from their supposed travel reimbursement and the high and mighty Accounts Payable department at BB. On top of that, they are claiming I didn't turn it in within the first month, though I initiated the process within 1 week. If they don't want to pay, why not just follow their own policy? I guess they don't want to pay for any of it.

Why Bloomberg?

During the HackerRank portion, I was asked to develop C++ algorithms using no libraries other than STL.

Imagine you are making an image drawing program. You have a contour (draws a closed contour) and you click here inside it. What do you do to fill it?