Applications Support Engineer Interview Experience - Natick, Massachusetts
Process
Submitted my resume online and received a phone call from the recruiter the next day. Had a phone interview a couple of days later, then another call from the recruiter the following day to schedule an on-site interview for the next week. HR called the evening after the interview with an offer. It was a very fast process.
The interviews were both technical and behavioral, and included many questions about my resume, projects, and experience.
Although they covered a lot of topics, the questions were very basic and could easily be aced using undergraduate knowledge. The programming section was easy, covering fundamental concepts without advanced data structures like linked lists or hash tables. The math questions were high school level, and signal processing focused on introductory DSP course material. Spending a few hours reviewing your class notes should suffice.
Questions
Technical Questions:
You can choose a field from software, controls, and signal processing. I chose signal processing.
The interview consisted of questions from Math, Signal Processing, C, C++, and MATLAB.
MATLAB: Basic questions like workspaces, memory, functions, and scripts, with some basic commands. A working knowledge of MATLAB is enough to conquer this part of the interview.
C/C++:
- The usual C++ OOP questions like classes and objects, constructors, destructors, and virtual functions.
- The usual C questions like stack and heap, structs and unions, and typedef.
- Asked to write a few functions, such as the recursive Fibonacci sequence.
- A few questions on drawing a shown pattern of asterisks in a certain order using C or C++.
Math:
- Basic questions on Linear Algebra, like calculating Eigen Values for a small 2x2 matrix, finding the derivative of a function, and partial differential equations.
- Nothing advanced, just basic calculus.
- Refresh some concepts like Eigen values and Eigen vectors, rank of a matrix, and null space of a matrix.
Signal Processing:
- Basic questions about linear and circular convolution, and causal systems.
- They gave input-output equations and asked questions about them, such as whether the system is linear or causal.
- Questions about FIR and IIR systems, poles, and zeros.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 170 interview experiences for the MathWorks Applications Support Engineer role in Natick, Massachusetts.
Success Rate
MathWorks's interview process for their Applications Support Engineer roles in Natick, Massachusetts is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for MathWorks's Applications Support Engineer interview process in Natick, Massachusetts.
MathWorks Work Experiences
- 5.0Great Space, Friendly MateApplications Support Engineer • Current EmployeeNatick, Massachusetts, United StatesApril 12, 2017Pros: Nice working space, nice workmate.Cons: Nothing to share. It was good.
- 3.0A good place to work if you are lucky and put on the right trackApplications Support Engineer • Former EmployeeNatick, Massachusetts, United StatesFebruary 18, 2013Pros: MathWorks creates some of the best (and in some cases, only) scientific computing tools in the industry and is very well recognized. There is an impressive base of engineering grads (an MS is basically required for entry-level positions). In the large majority of cases, people work well together, and there is a cooperative atmosphere. Honesty is placed in very high esteem, and people try hard to conform to that standard. Benefits are very good (401k match percentage is almost unheard of in the industry). EDG/ASE does provide a good opportunity to try out different departments before making a transfer. If you do a good job and are well-liked, you will move up in the ranks fairly quickly.Cons: In EDG, if you are given the wrong manager (basically assigned by luck), then your career is doomed. Too many mandatory meetings and micromanagement. In some cases, I was asked to write a "plan" for a project that took as long as the actual project itself. There is a strict culture of doing things "the MathWorks way," even if there are better ways out there. Because of this, it takes forever for new features, and even bug fixes, to make their way into the customer's hands. Transferring between jobs inside the company is way more difficult than at other companies that I've worked at. The CS grads tend not to be as talented as engineering grads, yet they are courted more aggressively due to a lack of these types of people. Top-notch engineering grads will come here, whereas top-notch CS grads tend to turn down offers here because they would rather work for Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. Base salary is very mediocre. My starting salary at my new job was 25% higher.
- 4.0Application Support Engineer InternApplications Support Engineer • Former EmployeeNatick, Massachusetts, United StatesOctober 2, 2014Pros: It is a very good company to work for. We get to learn social skills, like writing quick and well-organized technical emails, and speaking to customers on the phone. We also get to learn about all the toolboxes in MATLAB.Cons: Team members were helpful, but it was like micromanaging.
MathWorks Interview Questions
