Square Interview Questions

It was an easy interview process, except for one interviewer asking a 'gotcha' question. He totally presented data as if it was one thing and it was actually another. Which I found as we progressed in the exercise. It was a simple problem, and maybe they're checking if you don't just blindly trust your teammates, but I certainly felt tricked. It was my fourth interview and I knew it was all a waste of time as I could tell his attitude shifted when I didn't catch that he gave the wrong data up front. Which led me to eventually question and figure it out, but by then it was too late. I have offers for more high profile roles at this point, so I guess no harm no foul, but I wanted to add this so that someone else in the future will know that Square's whole message about culture and being a different kind of tech company is completely bs, if that's the kind of people they have representing them as a company. I was really hopeful for more normal people and less tech douches, but what I experienced was very similar to Amazon's interview process. Also they talk a big game about diversity but my 4 interviews were all white dudes.

The interviewer was nice. However, they are very "on-paper" type of company meaning that if you don't "meet" their qualifications word for word, you won't get passed the second round.

Overall I would say the experience was good. The hiring manger was very clear about what the process would entail, they were communicative and open throughout. I enjoyed meeting everyone on the team, they were all engaging and great to talk to. If I had one piece of feedback I would say the hiring manger was almost too positive ( I know that sounds silly). They were so positive that it felt like I was in, but in the end that wasn't the case. I think a little more neutrality would have made it less of a shock. Again, minor feedback.

Easy, but did not get hired. Was not really motivated by answers to questions in regard to salary. I think the interviewers struggled a bit with some answers to my questions regarding moving up in the company and that process

Received an email from recruiter requesting to set up interview. It was virtual and there was a group of us that did icebreakers while waiting to be sent a link to have private interview. After that interview, was sent another link with another lead. Here we did a mock call. Afterwards was given a writing assignment that was due by that night.

The first conversation was a phone screening with the recruiter, who was friendly and informative. Expect any and all communication after this step to take a huge pause. It's been almost 3-weeks since our initial phone call, and the recruiter never got back to me. I followed up and it was simply stated he is still finishing interviewing other potential candidates. If you are just going to drag great candidates out like this, you will definitely miss great talent. The job market is constantly changing and moving, and they are giving the impression that anyone is replaceable. I also previously interviewed for a different role - Executive Assistant - and the same scenario. Ghosting. Although the company seems promising, their ghosting policy is a big big red flag.

Recruiter screen then coderpad Python and Sql round each Python guy was really and he wanted me to succeed . He was patient and helping me . Solved almost 90% algorithm but not very efficient SQL interviewer was in super hurry . There were 8 questions posted on screen with table . Out of which 4 were very easy and 4 with medium difficulty. After starting 5-10 min went in intro and last 5 min he didn't allow me to write so technically I got 30 min to answer 8 questions. First question I solved in less than 2 min , 2nd again less than 2 min but got stuck with stupid thing . Only distinct keyword was missing , I said I will come back to this later, so unfortunately I spent additional 10 min there . Stupid me. Again 3rd and 4th question solved within 2 minutes. So far I spent around 25-30 of interview.. then 5th question again easy solved in 2-3 minutes, then 6th question solved in 7-8 min but not with 100% accuracy .. that left me with 5 min on clock. But after this point he didn't allow me to read or write any code for last 2 questions. I could have easily solved 1 of them . And I would have corrected 6th one . With 6th he was not happy because he wanted to see rank function but I used different approach.. funny .. Immediately after 6th question he started giving me feedback that I am not meeting expectation . He looking for better outcome but I had realized his intend earlier because as soon as he saw lead position that I was interviewing his expression changed . He was member on same team I guess. Then I checked his background on LinkedIn. He was Data analyst with less then 4 year relevant experience. No CS degree not master degree. I am being with 10 yr experience , CS understand , analytics master and certifications and 2-3 fortune 500 experience with programming experience really getting evaluated by guy half the my experience with no programming or much technical background. What you can expect ? My day was bad , I didn't do bad at all . Infact it was one of my best interview for me . Only thing that I didn't manage time properly .I had no expectations from python round but I knew this is guy who rejected me right away.. Advise to Square hiring managers please find better interviewers if u want to hire best . Robotic interviewer who has fixed mindset and not willing adapt and expecting to solve 100% answer in short time is ridiculousle . You will keep losing quality candidi

The recruiter cited that interviewing/hiring typically takes 4-5 weeks (though it took 4-5 weeks to reach out after applying alone). Also there is an emphasis on specialists rather than generalists across Square, looking for hyper relevant verticals within PM/industry. Makes sense and candidates with a broader range of PM experience will have difficulty. Can't say anything beyond the initial screen since I applied for a mid-level role although the recruiter thought I applied for a senior level role.

I applied online. Recruiter responded via email asking for availability for a call with a team member. The team member wasn't able to join, so I emailed the scheduling coordinator and appartenly the interviewer was having WiFi issues. After rescheduling, the interview went fantastically and the interviewer told me he hoped to work with me some day. After that the recruiter emailed me asking for availability for 2 things: 1st was a call briefing me what to expect on the virtual on site. 2nd was the virtual on site itself. Got that all set up and confirmed. Then the recruiter did not call me at the agreed upon time. I sent an email asking if everything was okay and sending availability for another time which did not get a response. Later I emailed again after finding out there was a coding interview (I'm terrible at whiteboard interviews) and told the recruiter I would like to cancel as I didn't want to waste their or my time. I also asked if I could reach out in a few months after I had some time at grinding leetcode to see if they had any opportunities at that point. Was very transparent and honest. No response from the recruiter. Later the scheduling person called me asking me if I was going to make it to the interview. I explained that I had already canceled. Disappointing experience as I was very excited about the possibility of working at square, but also an opportunity as it has provided me the motivation to get better at data-structures and algorithms/leetcode challenges. I understand the recruiter was likely swamped; the hiring market right now is scarce and its gotta be rough on recruiters to have to manage so many open job reqs.