Process
The process took 2 weeks.
Outsourced to a third-party company. Given easy-intermediate questions on a particular framework. Interviewer at this company has two years of experience spread across a variety of languages.
At the start they said "you can write the code or explain it verbally". However, due to the lack of knowledge from the interviewer, whenever I started explaining something he would tell me that he doesn't understand what I am saying. It turns out that the interviewer is not knowledgeable about the framework, they have a sheet of paper and just sit and wait to see if you can understand what they are getting at with the question.
It's also highly time pressured with a lot of encouragement to hurry up. So:
- If you go into too much detail, you confuse the interviewer and lose time.
- If you don't give enough detail, you don't hit enough of their checkboxes and you lose points.
Questions
The difference between class and functional components.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 22 interview experiences for the Helsing Software Engineer role.
Success Rate
9%
Pass Rate
Helsing's interview process for their Software Engineer roles is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive36%
Neutral18%
Negative45%
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Helsing's Software Engineer interview process.
Helsing Work Experiences
5.0
Fantastic place to learn
Software Engineer • Current Employee
London, England
September 20, 2022
Pros: Some incredibly talented and smart people to learn from and a really diverse set of backgrounds and expertise
A lot of opportunity to build new technology and develop new tooling
Technical roles get a lot of exposure to the business development efforts
Cons: Growing quickly means that it is sometimes hard to stay on top of all the new things and opportunities.
5.0
Unparalleled mission focus, amazing tech, smart people
Software Engineer • Current Employee
London, England
September 26, 2022
Pros: Helsing is one of the few tech companies in Europe where I think your work can make a real difference to people's safety and livelihood. It is also one of the only places I've ever seen real collaboration between top-tier software engineers and AI researchers.
Everyone feels a deep attachment to the company's mission to keep liberal democracies from harm, which usually makes it easy to keep discussions and projects outcome-focused rather than getting distracted by theoretical or technical trivialities.
You have freedom to decide your own solution design and implementation as long as you can demonstrate that it meets the requirements. Top-down support on helping you decompose problems and review your plans when you need it with engineering reviews. Continual culture of collaborative learning with tech talks, a generous learning stipend, and weekly demos to get insight into what everyone across the company is working on. Real interest in driving forward the world's understanding of the ethical use of emerging AI technologies.
Compensation is good. Market-leading salary and equity packages, reasonable benefits.
Cons: Atmosphere of the company needing to figure everything out for the first time rather than having established processes, like technical infrastructure, performance reviews, and OKRs. On the other hand, it is super interesting to see these processes developed in a principled and balanced way. Some roles (probably more over time) require a national security clearance due to the sensitivity of the project, which can mean you often can't work on some really interesting projects unless you are cleared. Always needing to seriously prioritise technical projects because of too much work and too few people.
5.0
Fast moving, dynamic company with great future prospects.
Software Engineer • Current Employee
London, England
July 28, 2024
Pros: - Some of the smartest people who I've ever worked with.
- Great tech stack and culture.
- Truly a 'forge your own adventure' mindset.
Cons: People work hard! There is a lot to do, and it is a small company, so often you have to make it happen yourself.
- 5.0Fantastic place to learnSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeLondon, EnglandSeptember 20, 2022Pros: Some incredibly talented and smart people to learn from and a really diverse set of backgrounds and expertise A lot of opportunity to build new technology and develop new tooling Technical roles get a lot of exposure to the business development effortsCons: Growing quickly means that it is sometimes hard to stay on top of all the new things and opportunities.
- 5.0Unparalleled mission focus, amazing tech, smart peopleSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeLondon, EnglandSeptember 26, 2022Pros: Helsing is one of the few tech companies in Europe where I think your work can make a real difference to people's safety and livelihood. It is also one of the only places I've ever seen real collaboration between top-tier software engineers and AI researchers. Everyone feels a deep attachment to the company's mission to keep liberal democracies from harm, which usually makes it easy to keep discussions and projects outcome-focused rather than getting distracted by theoretical or technical trivialities. You have freedom to decide your own solution design and implementation as long as you can demonstrate that it meets the requirements. Top-down support on helping you decompose problems and review your plans when you need it with engineering reviews. Continual culture of collaborative learning with tech talks, a generous learning stipend, and weekly demos to get insight into what everyone across the company is working on. Real interest in driving forward the world's understanding of the ethical use of emerging AI technologies. Compensation is good. Market-leading salary and equity packages, reasonable benefits.Cons: Atmosphere of the company needing to figure everything out for the first time rather than having established processes, like technical infrastructure, performance reviews, and OKRs. On the other hand, it is super interesting to see these processes developed in a principled and balanced way. Some roles (probably more over time) require a national security clearance due to the sensitivity of the project, which can mean you often can't work on some really interesting projects unless you are cleared. Always needing to seriously prioritise technical projects because of too much work and too few people.
- 5.0Fast moving, dynamic company with great future prospects.Software Engineer • Current EmployeeLondon, EnglandJuly 28, 2024Pros: - Some of the smartest people who I've ever worked with. - Great tech stack and culture. - Truly a 'forge your own adventure' mindset.Cons: People work hard! There is a lot to do, and it is a small company, so often you have to make it happen yourself.
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