I was contacted by a recruiter in June 2017. I decided to give it a try as Bloomberg is only company I would leave my current State for and relocate to NY for.
* Phone screening 15 minutes: This was done by the recruiter, to evaluate if I was a good fit and check previous and current experience and current role and responsibilities.
Submitted resume.
* Phone screening - 15 minutes: Recruiter got back with some specific questions regarding role, projects and things I am doing at my current position.
* 1st technical interview - remote / 1 hour: Phone technical interview, I needed a computer and an internet connection. The platform they use is Hackerrank (check it out and get familiar with it). The interviewer can see what you type, if you leave the current window/tab, etc. It is very interactive and collaborative. This interview covered multiple questions and coding challenges from css and html to advanced JS. It also covered questions like Why Bloomberg, and current role and projects.
* 2nd technical interview - remote / 1 hour: Same as 1st technical interview, computer, internet and hackkerrank. This one was done as I live far from NY, they wanted to make sure I could be a good fit before having me come for a face to face interview. This one was a bit tougher than the previous one, more questions and coding challenges from css, html and advanced JS. It also covered questions like Why Bloomberg, and current role and projects.
* HR phone screening / 20 minutes: This was a small interview with HR to see goals, why Bloomberg, current role, willingness to relocate, salary expectations, etc.
I didn't hear back from them for about 2 weeks, then, they contacted me through the recruiter to schedule the on site interview. HR is very efficient, they scheduled flights, hotel, transportation, everything and they cover everything up to the interview and return flight(s).
They even let me stay few extra days to explore the area as the possibility to relocate was real. Of course, I covered the extra days.
* On Site interview!
I was asked to arrive 15 minutes early, check in at the front desk and then I was directed to wait at a pink couch in the 6th floor.
Then, on time, the host came and took me on a 10 minute tour of the building: Pantry, mini Bloomberg terminal museum (my favorite), channel studio, curve escalator, back break room, etc. It is such an awesome building and environment.
After the tour, I was directed to a room where two Engineers were waiting for me. The interview started.
- 1st round - 1 hour: This one was a whiteboard session: System design, some JavaScript challenges, monitoring, deployment. Time flew by. Then the engineers gave me time to ask questions. Then they told me a 2nd round would follow with 2 more engineers. They left.
- 2nd round - 1 hour: Two new engineers arrived, with ice cream. This session was more hands on: Implement an api endpoint meeting certain acceptance criteria given by them. This had to be functional, and it had to consume some of their own services. Then in between while building this, other questions were taking place. Really fun round. Then I had time to ask questions as well. The indicated a new round would follow with 2 more of their colleagues.
- 3rd round - 1 hour: Two new engineers arrived. This round now was about consuming the endpoint built on round 2, and create a UI following some specs they had. That was dynamic and it had to use the data provided by that api endpoint I previously built. All good here as well, really fun round, lots of questions while creating that UI. Then I had time to ask questions as well. The indicated that a round with the head of department would be next.
-4rd round - 1 hour: The head of department arrived, at this point I wanted to work there even more. Their team is just awesome, and the things they are building, incredible. This sessions was more theoretical again, some technical questions, and more about experience, personality, goals, how did I see myself in 2, 4 years, etc. Then interviewer indicated a 5th round with HR would follow.
-5th round - 40 minutes: At this point, I felt awesome. From what I had read, chances were great if you made it to the HR round. This was the last round. We talked about goals, relocation, salary expectations, what I thought so far of the process, etc, very nice round.
Then, after almost 5h, I was directed to pick up my baggage from a storage room and to the front door.
They said I would hear back in about a week or less. I left, few days later I flew back home.
Less than a week later: I got a call from the recruiter, they let me know I didn't get the role. But they provided high level, but, great feedback on why I didn't get it. I'm very happy that I heard back so fast and with the experience of going through their recruiting process.