Principal Software Engineer In Test Interview Experience - Santa Clara, California
Process
My interview experience with Palo Alto was unprofessional. The interviewer didn't introduce themselves and immediately sent a Codility coding challenge.
They insisted on Python, even though I'm primarily a Java developer. The challenge involved encoding strings like this:
['a', 'a', 'b', 'b', 'c', 'c', 'c'] -> ['a', '2', 'b', '2', 'c', '3'].
Questions
If the input is chars = ["a","a","b","b","c","c","c"], the output should be output = ["a","2","b","2","c","3"].
If the input is chars = ["a","b","b","c","c","c"], the output should be output = ["a","b","2","c","3"].
If the input is chars = ["a","b","b","c","c","c","c","c","c","c","c","c","c","c","c"], the output should be output = ["a","b","2","c","1","2"].
Do not use any data structures.
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Palo Alto Networks Principal Software Engineer In Test role in Santa Clara, California.
Success Rate
Palo Alto Networks's interview process for their Principal Software Engineer In Test roles in Santa Clara, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Palo Alto Networks's Principal Software Engineer In Test interview process in Santa Clara, California.
Palo Alto Networks Work Experiences
- 4.0Good for GrowthSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeSanta Clara, California, United StatesJune 6, 2025Pros: Opportunity to work on high-impact initiatives, especially if you're on a good team.Cons: Has increasingly become more cheap and focused on RTO. Pay is also starting to become less competitive. WLB can be tough depending on the team.
- 3.0Not the best, not the worstSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSanta Clara, California, United StatesJune 18, 2025Pros: - Good pay, although low compared to other big tech. - Decent benefits. - Solving problems at scale with a massive client base. - Good stock appreciation.Cons: - Terrible 401k match. - Poor raises, even with promotion. - Very political environment. - Mostly non-technical engineering leadership (from VP level and higher). - Strong "yes man" culture in leadership. - Heavily enforced RTO policy. - Clear disdain for engineers from senior leadership; they can't wait to replace us with AI. - Poor diversity in hiring.
- 3.0Cheap to its employeesSenior Staff Machine Learning Engineer • Current EmployeeSanta Clara, California, United StatesNovember 19, 2023Pros: Stock keeps growing, probably the only good thing. ESPP has a 2-year lookback, so it's pretty good combined with the massive stock growth.Cons: Work-life balance is getting worse and worse. Very cheap to their employees. Still couldn’t comprehend the $1000 401k match. Stock refreshers are not guaranteed and usually very, very small compared to top-tier tech companies. Kindergarten-level infra and procedures for Machine Learning people. I’m worried about my future job opportunities after working here for too long.
Palo Alto Networks Interview Questions
