I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at BlackRock (London, England) in Jul 2018
Interview
Contacted on LinkedIn by one of BlackRock's recruiters for a "Senior Java Developer" position. After discussing the position and desired comp, I was sent an online coding test.
A few days after completing the test, the recruiter called me and said that the comp I required was too high for the "junior position" I was applying for. I asked about the "Senior Java Developer" position I was contacted about and supposedly applying for, and I was told that I needed (x+1) years of experience, but I only had x.
They then proceeded to ask for my current salary so they can add a reasonable amount on top of it - which I told them wouldn't have been lower than what I was looking for. I said I would be flexible with salary if they had a bonus scheme which would make up for the difference in salary, but they wouldn't even mention what sort of percentage I could expect, even as a very rough, unofficial estimate - I didn't know whether to expect 10% or 100%.
Upon asking what I could have done better so that I could have been considered for this "senior" position I was told *there wasn't anything I could better or differently*. I just needed 1 more year of experience.
Wasn't willing to continue on a process which would result in a lower package than my current job.
1) Why ask me to spend my time doing an online coding test, phone calls, emails, CV, etc, when our comp expectations didn't match at all?
2) Reassuring me that I was applying for a senior position then calling it a junior position makes it sound like the recruiter doesn't really know the positions they're recruiting for.
It honestly felt like they don't value the applicant's time at all. Would have been perfectly fine if they outright said they wouldn't match my salary expectations at the start, and left it at that.
Very negative experience and a complete waste of time.
Four interviews, forty five mins each. Met folks from different teams for their rotation program. Everyone was super smart and clearly excited about working there. Didn't end up taking the job because I decided to stay outside Chicago.
There was fitst technical round out of three round.
In my first round they asked a DSA Coding question. I do not quite remember the question that was asked, but it did not go well and was rejected.
I applied through university. I interviewed at BlackRock (Manipal) in Sep 2025
Interview
On campus Interview, asked question about my projects and resume in depth. No dsa questions, just grilled on resume and websockets.
Two round, technical focused on my resume and one HR round that focused on getting to know me and normal hr questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you describe AI to childs or old people?