Software Engineer Interview Experience - Bellevue, Washington
March 1, 2009
Negative ExperienceNo Offer
Process
The interview lasted all day and happened in phases. Each phase consisted of being interviewed by two people at a time. They asked questions about experience (based on resume) and then posed a problem to solve, with the help of a whiteboard to explain details.
Two of the phases entailed technical questions (e.g., how would you solve a specific toy technical problem).
One of the phases was a game design problem (e.g., explain a design for a game in sufficient detail that after leaving the meeting, people would know what to code and what assets to start creating).
One phase was just lunch, where they asked about work ethic and standards for success. I believe they wanted to hear that your definition of success is that the product satisfies the consumers' needs.
The final phase entailed a conversation with the owner.
Questions
Implement specific algorithms.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 11 interview experiences for the Valve Software Engineer role in Bellevue, Washington.
Success Rate
9%
Pass Rate
Valve's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Bellevue, Washington is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive64%
Neutral18%
Negative18%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Valve's Software Engineer interview process in Bellevue, Washington.
Valve Work Experiences
4.0
Good for confident people
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
January 21, 2024
Pros: The best benefits around:
* Total freedom
* Amazing coworkers
* High visibility projects
Cons: Paranoia
Chaos
Lack of cohesion
You never really know if you're doing the right thing, because nobody can agree what that is. If you're stubborn, self-confident, and lucky, you'll do great.
1.0
Company is flush with cash but is chaotic and disorganized, refuses to "grow up"
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
March 5, 2015
Pros: Great benefits, and yearly bonuses can equal or exceed your salary.
This company is at the nexus of the PC game business, so your work can have a big impact if you carefully choose the right project and people to work with.
Cons: Placing any bets on a long-term career at this random and cliquish company is probably as wise as betting all your life savings on a single spin of a roulette wheel in Vegas. At this point, Valve has devolved into a place you work at to pad your resume and make some bonus cash. Be prepared to be let down once you're inside.
The basic idea of Valve works well with small (30-50 person) companies, but utterly fails to scale to a company with hundreds of people. The board and their closest friends have become extremely wealthy, so they have very little incentive to fix the company.
This organization has a purposely opaque, hierarchical, secretive, and very rigid management structure. Many of the board of directors and their friends are utterly capricious and conceited. The longer an employee is at Valve, the more they singularly focus on protecting their yearly bonuses, and the less they care about basically everything else.
Some projects can go on literally for 5+ years, wandering around pointlessly without shipping, with little to no direction and no accountability. This company is terrible at writing and shipping large-scale software and sneers at words like "software engineering," "architecture," and "testing." The random mass firings of 2013 tanked morale, and the stream of talent leaving the company during 2014 didn't help.
The yearly review process lacks feedback, transparency, and coverage. This company has no formal HR, so good luck if you need to give genuine feedback about troublesome coworkers.
5.0
Cool Company, Nothing Bad
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
July 30, 2020
Pros: Cool company and cool stuff.
Cons: Nothing is a con here, you see.
- 4.0Good for confident peopleSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeBellevue, Washington, United StatesJanuary 21, 2024Pros: The best benefits around: * Total freedom * Amazing coworkers * High visibility projectsCons: Paranoia Chaos Lack of cohesion You never really know if you're doing the right thing, because nobody can agree what that is. If you're stubborn, self-confident, and lucky, you'll do great.
- 1.0Company is flush with cash but is chaotic and disorganized, refuses to "grow up"Software Engineer • Former EmployeeBellevue, Washington, United StatesMarch 5, 2015Pros: Great benefits, and yearly bonuses can equal or exceed your salary. This company is at the nexus of the PC game business, so your work can have a big impact if you carefully choose the right project and people to work with.Cons: Placing any bets on a long-term career at this random and cliquish company is probably as wise as betting all your life savings on a single spin of a roulette wheel in Vegas. At this point, Valve has devolved into a place you work at to pad your resume and make some bonus cash. Be prepared to be let down once you're inside. The basic idea of Valve works well with small (30-50 person) companies, but utterly fails to scale to a company with hundreds of people. The board and their closest friends have become extremely wealthy, so they have very little incentive to fix the company. This organization has a purposely opaque, hierarchical, secretive, and very rigid management structure. Many of the board of directors and their friends are utterly capricious and conceited. The longer an employee is at Valve, the more they singularly focus on protecting their yearly bonuses, and the less they care about basically everything else. Some projects can go on literally for 5+ years, wandering around pointlessly without shipping, with little to no direction and no accountability. This company is terrible at writing and shipping large-scale software and sneers at words like "software engineering," "architecture," and "testing." The random mass firings of 2013 tanked morale, and the stream of talent leaving the company during 2014 didn't help. The yearly review process lacks feedback, transparency, and coverage. This company has no formal HR, so good luck if you need to give genuine feedback about troublesome coworkers.
- 5.0Cool Company, Nothing BadSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeBellevue, Washington, United StatesJuly 30, 2020Pros: Cool company and cool stuff.Cons: Nothing is a con here, you see.
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