PAIR PROGRAMMING INTERVIEW

Introduction

The paired programming session for this role will be an exercise which features some pre-existing code. You will be required to implement functionalities on top. You will need to define the API's required by a frontend application and implement them. 

The interview should last around 60 minutes. 


⁠Before the interview

You can complete this programming session in either Python, Javascript, Ruby or Java. Please let us know which language you would like to complete it in.  

  • Prepare and set up a local IDE for your chosen language

  • Ensure that it can run some sample code and tests


⁠During the interview

The interviewer will then present you with a series of problems they expect you to solve:

  • Verify that the code achieves the expected outcome and leverage log statements to  get feedback on the internal state of the app 
  • Spend the first 5 minutes getting to the heart of the problem (ask as many questions  as you feel are needed) before starting to build out your code 
  • As you are coding try and explain your approach / logic to solving the problems
  • There are often many different ways to approach the problems at hand, and we’d like  for you to be able to explain it to us so we can see how you problem solve
  • Lastly, there may be 5-10 minutes on some basic architectural questions around the  deployment, any refactoring that might be necessary and testing

⁠You will also have another 5-10 minutes to ask any questions about the role and Tractable.

SYSTEM DESIGN INTERVIEW

Introduction

In this interview you will pair with a Senior Engineer to discuss a hypothetical Architecture and Systems Design problem that you would build to deploy onto. The exercise is interactive. You will be working alongside the interviewer to come up with a working solution. Ask as many questions as you feel are necessary to be successful in the interview.

Before the interview

Before the session, please familiarise yourself with an online drawing tool. We use Miro internally, but you can also use https://excalidraw.com/ (which is free and requires no registration).

Please also read our detailed Systems Design guide here: Systems Design Guide.

During the interview

  • You will be given a high-level problem statement

  • The problem is deliberately vague. You are encouraged to ask questions and clarify specifications

  • You will work with your interviewer to develop a working solution

  • You will sketch down your design using your drawing tool of choice

What we expect by the end of the session

  • Block diagram / workflow describing your solution

  • Explanation of trade-offs / choices in arriving at your solution

  • A working solution for a simple base case - this is more important than solving for all the complex scenarios

Please think about all factors you would take into consideration when designing a system. These incluce security, scalability, reliability, maintainability, monitoring / alerting, data lineage and data validation.

As always, you’ll have 5-10 minutes at the end to ask your interviewer any questions about the role and Tractable.

VALUES FIT INTERVIEW

Introduction

This is the final stage in our recruitment process. The interview is generally conversational with questions to determine your fit with Tractable and our values. It is also designed to help you decide whether Tractable is the right fit for you.

We’ll assess you against several of our company values. Ensure you check our careers page to read up on these, and have some examples to hand to discuss with us: Tractable Careers.

During the session we will be assessing

1. Communication and collaboration: 

  • We’re looking for collaborative people who will communicate well with the rest of the team as well as other stakeholders 

  • You should be able to give and receive constructive feedback

  • Can you have difficult conversations? We don’t do everything right and need our people to tell us when we go wrong

2. Results obsession:

  • We are looking for people who are focused on results (over inputs) and understand the impact of their work. Not just on a technical level, but from a product benefit and customer impact perspective as well

  • We will ask about examples of challenging situations that show how you reacted to them, how you prioritised efforts and how you got through them

  • Sometimes the right result isn’t the one we want. So we'd also like to explore any relevant scenarios, what you learnt from them and what you would do differently next time

3. General fit:

  • Discuss your career motivations 

    • Why did you transition roles? 

    • What are you looking for?

    • What are your longer term aspirations? 

    • Why Tractable? 

We’ll also give you 5-10 mins at the end of the interview to ask any questions you might have about the role / Tractable.

As always, please let us know if you need any adjustments to be made for your interview process.