Applications Support Engineer Interview Experience
October 1, 2016
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
HR Phone Interview HackerRank Coding Challenge 1st Technical Phone Interview, with HackerRank for screen sharing for coding.
Waiting to find out results from my 1st Technical Phone Interview. Will update review with any further rounds.
HR
- Same as all previous reviews.
HackerRank
- Choose 2 out of 5 sections.
- I chose MATLAB.
- MATLAB: 22 Multiple Choice (stem, loops).
- Java: 2 coding questions, 7 or so multiple choice (Reverse a String, Get items out of HashMap Sequentially (<String, String> type)).
1st Technical Phone Interview Polite interviewer, though not overtly friendly. No feedback.
- Used HackerRank screen sharing.
- Java: Polymorphism, Interface vs Abstract Class, Garbage Collector, Is there a destructor, what are generics and why are they helpful, threading, synchronized block.
- MATLAB: How to improve performance of a MATLAB program (prompted me to preallocation, vectorization), .* vs *.
- OOD: Binary Search Tree.
- Math/Other: Birthday Paradox, Logic (40 in class, 22 people take Math, 12 take Math and English, how many take only English?), Algorithm for finding GCD (I did not know this at all...), run times for various sorting algorithms.
Questions
HR
- Same as all previous reviews
HackerRank
- Choose 2 out of 5 sections
- I chose MATLAB
- MATLAB: 22 multiple choice questions on stems and loops
- Java: 2 coding questions and approximately 7 multiple choice questions on reversing a string and getting items out of a HashMap sequentially (<String, String> type)
1st Technical Phone Interview
- Polite interviewer, though not overtly friendly.
- No feedback provided.
- Used HackerRank screen sharing.
- Java: Polymorphism, Interface vs. Abstract Class, Garbage Collector, destructor, generics and their benefits, threading, synchronized block.
- MATLAB: How to improve performance (prompted preallocation and vectorization), .* vs. *.
- OOD: Binary Search Tree.
- Math/Other: Birthday Paradox, logic (40 in class, 22 take Math, 12 take Math and English; how many take only English?), algorithm for finding GCD (not known), run times for various sorting algorithms.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 957 interview experiences for the MathWorks Applications Support Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
14%
Pass Rate
MathWorks's interview process for their Applications Support Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive47%
Neutral44%
Negative9%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for MathWorks's Applications Support Engineer interview process in United States.
MathWorks Work Experiences
3.0
EDG: An okay place to start your career
Applications Support Engineer • Former Employee
Natick, Massachusetts, United States
February 14, 2018
Pros: For someone without a background in CS, this is an OK deal, at least in principle, to pick up skills that will help you transfer to other teams within the company or find opportunities outside the company.
The price one pays is, of course, spending the bulk of your time in doing technical support and salvaging the rest to pick up the skills you really need.
The following stood out to me during my time in EDG:
* Smart colleagues
* Great office space and campus
* Celebrations for important events, grand company outings, and other perks
* Well-structured trainings and equipment
* Strong culture of feedback and self-improvement, and generally doing the right thing.
Cons: EDG is a place one can stagnate very fast without knowing it. The department preaches a culture very different from elsewhere in the company.
There is overemphasis on soft skills, and you are treated like a juvenile. The managers themselves have a history of a mediocre career in technology, and they're the ones deciding your fate.
Your transfer out of the program is contingent on a myriad of factors working for you. No peers competing for the same position, open requisitions in your area of interest, and your manager's blessings are some of the key ones.
You might have come on board with the perfect background for a certain product area, but if the company is expanding in a direction that is different from your target team, you might find yourself very frustrated with the lack of opportunities. Unfortunately, this is not communicated in the career fairs.
A year and a half in, without transferring, you can find yourself sucked into the tech support spiral. Having lost your domain expertise from school and focusing most of your time on MATLAB and Simulink, which have very niche markets (try searching for MATLAB jobs versus other core languages on any job search engine), you become obsolete in the market very fast.
Did I mention the increasing pressure from management to work on technical support initiatives or be booted out? They project themselves as a program with a high transfer rate, great marketing – they left out the folks they forced out.
My advice: Join the program. If you don't make it to another team in a year, find yourself another opportunity before it's too late. If you do, congratulations; MW is a great place to work. Otherwise...
4.0
Smart Tech, Stupid Interview Process
Applications Support Engineer • Current Employee
Natick, Massachusetts, United States
January 18, 2014
Pros: Good technical knowledge among the employees.
Cons: Stupid interviews and very little hope.
4.0
Great learning opportunities. Smart people, great work environment
Applications Support Engineer • Current Employee
Natick, Massachusetts, United States
February 14, 2014
Pros: Flexibility to move between departments.
Good balance between personal and professional life.
Regular company outings.
Tons of free food opportunities.
Cons: No work from home policy, inflexible work hours, very process oriented.
- 3.0EDG: An okay place to start your careerApplications Support Engineer • Former EmployeeNatick, Massachusetts, United StatesFebruary 14, 2018Pros: For someone without a background in CS, this is an OK deal, at least in principle, to pick up skills that will help you transfer to other teams within the company or find opportunities outside the company. The price one pays is, of course, spending the bulk of your time in doing technical support and salvaging the rest to pick up the skills you really need. The following stood out to me during my time in EDG: * Smart colleagues * Great office space and campus * Celebrations for important events, grand company outings, and other perks * Well-structured trainings and equipment * Strong culture of feedback and self-improvement, and generally doing the right thing.Cons: EDG is a place one can stagnate very fast without knowing it. The department preaches a culture very different from elsewhere in the company. There is overemphasis on soft skills, and you are treated like a juvenile. The managers themselves have a history of a mediocre career in technology, and they're the ones deciding your fate. Your transfer out of the program is contingent on a myriad of factors working for you. No peers competing for the same position, open requisitions in your area of interest, and your manager's blessings are some of the key ones. You might have come on board with the perfect background for a certain product area, but if the company is expanding in a direction that is different from your target team, you might find yourself very frustrated with the lack of opportunities. Unfortunately, this is not communicated in the career fairs. A year and a half in, without transferring, you can find yourself sucked into the tech support spiral. Having lost your domain expertise from school and focusing most of your time on MATLAB and Simulink, which have very niche markets (try searching for MATLAB jobs versus other core languages on any job search engine), you become obsolete in the market very fast. Did I mention the increasing pressure from management to work on technical support initiatives or be booted out? They project themselves as a program with a high transfer rate, great marketing – they left out the folks they forced out. My advice: Join the program. If you don't make it to another team in a year, find yourself another opportunity before it's too late. If you do, congratulations; MW is a great place to work. Otherwise...
- 4.0Smart Tech, Stupid Interview ProcessApplications Support Engineer • Current EmployeeNatick, Massachusetts, United StatesJanuary 18, 2014Pros: Good technical knowledge among the employees.Cons: Stupid interviews and very little hope.
- 4.0Great learning opportunities. Smart people, great work environmentApplications Support Engineer • Current EmployeeNatick, Massachusetts, United StatesFebruary 14, 2014Pros: Flexibility to move between departments. Good balance between personal and professional life. Regular company outings. Tons of free food opportunities.Cons: No work from home policy, inflexible work hours, very process oriented.
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