Process
The interview process involved:
- One phone interview.
- One phone/online coding exercise.
- One in-person interview lasting 50 minutes to 1 hour, with 5 or 6 different people and no breaks. It was brutal and exhausting.
All interview questions were code-related. Every step of a 5 or 6 step process required me to write functional code (for 3 or 4 of the individual interviews) or pseudocode on a whiteboard. The exception was during lunch, which involved riddles and brain teasers. It was exhausting.
Questions
Unexpectedly, I was asked to reimplement a hash class using arrays. Why would I ever do this? It's a base class with well-understood functionality, and the actual implementation in any language would be highly optimized.
I've heard the arguments about "testing the way you think about things," and I don't buy it, especially when you only have 50 minutes to do it.
What about testing the way I'd actually write code every day?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 68 interview experiences for the Groupon Software Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
18%
Pass Rate
Groupon's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in the United States is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive40%
Neutral37%
Negative24%
Candidates reported having good feelings for Groupon's Software Engineer interview process in United States.
Groupon Work Experiences
1.0
Great Tech, Toxic Politics
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Chicago, Illinois, United States
February 1, 2017
Pros: Technologies, large scale, and customer base.
Opportunities for learning and collaboration.
Cons: Nasty office politics, depending on the team you're on, with a lack of morals, manners, and respect. Some managers lie without any shame or remorse.
Some teams don't know how to co-operate with others, nor are they interested in learning to do so. This results in bad work and their projects getting pulled or cancelled, with great waste of company money and others' time.
2.0
Not an engineer's place to be
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
May 18, 2019
Pros: Good culture, events, and activities. A nice kitchen with loads of junk snacks.
Cons: If you are an engineer and looking for long-term prospects, this is not a place you want to be.
Lots of politics and bureaucracy. No matter how good you are, if you are not on good terms with higher management, forget about promotion.
Once you join, you will quickly realize that SDE1, SDE2, and SDE3 are all internally software engineers. Recruiters sell SDE3 as a senior engineer while hiring. SDE4 is actually a senior engineer. Also, don't be surprised if you find SDE3s earning more than SDE4s. Your compensation might also vary based on the team you are joining.
You will be offered bonus and stocks as part of your CTC, but it's wise not to consider them at all.
Groupon stock keeps reaching new lows.
For bonuses, if you are really lucky, you might get 30-40% of the amount mentioned. Bonus calculation, which compromises company and individual performance, is flawed. Company performance takes precedence over individual performance; it's not distributed 50-50. For example, if the company's performance is 50% and yours is 100%, you will only get 100% of 50% (not 75%).
Managers and business organizations change frequently. It's not uncommon to have 3-4 managers over a year. There's no solid engineering plan in place. No roadmaps, not clear transparency. The S-team focuses only on teams that make money for the business; all other teams are treated as B-teams.
My personal view - Groupon is a nice place to be for the short term but definitely not for a long-term perspective.
4.0
Good team and fair company
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Seattle, Washington, United States
April 30, 2020
Pros: Team members are helpful, and the manager has a good vision. The salary is competitive.
Cons: The company is not stable. Layoffs happened recently.
- 1.0Great Tech, Toxic PoliticsSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeChicago, Illinois, United StatesFebruary 1, 2017Pros: Technologies, large scale, and customer base. Opportunities for learning and collaboration.Cons: Nasty office politics, depending on the team you're on, with a lack of morals, manners, and respect. Some managers lie without any shame or remorse. Some teams don't know how to co-operate with others, nor are they interested in learning to do so. This results in bad work and their projects getting pulled or cancelled, with great waste of company money and others' time.
- 2.0Not an engineer's place to beSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeDublin, Dublin, IrelandMay 18, 2019Pros: Good culture, events, and activities. A nice kitchen with loads of junk snacks.Cons: If you are an engineer and looking for long-term prospects, this is not a place you want to be. Lots of politics and bureaucracy. No matter how good you are, if you are not on good terms with higher management, forget about promotion. Once you join, you will quickly realize that SDE1, SDE2, and SDE3 are all internally software engineers. Recruiters sell SDE3 as a senior engineer while hiring. SDE4 is actually a senior engineer. Also, don't be surprised if you find SDE3s earning more than SDE4s. Your compensation might also vary based on the team you are joining. You will be offered bonus and stocks as part of your CTC, but it's wise not to consider them at all. Groupon stock keeps reaching new lows. For bonuses, if you are really lucky, you might get 30-40% of the amount mentioned. Bonus calculation, which compromises company and individual performance, is flawed. Company performance takes precedence over individual performance; it's not distributed 50-50. For example, if the company's performance is 50% and yours is 100%, you will only get 100% of 50% (not 75%). Managers and business organizations change frequently. It's not uncommon to have 3-4 managers over a year. There's no solid engineering plan in place. No roadmaps, not clear transparency. The S-team focuses only on teams that make money for the business; all other teams are treated as B-teams. My personal view - Groupon is a nice place to be for the short term but definitely not for a long-term perspective.
- 4.0Good team and fair companySoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeSeattle, Washington, United StatesApril 30, 2020Pros: Team members are helpful, and the manager has a good vision. The salary is competitive.Cons: The company is not stable. Layoffs happened recently.
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