This interview process is for a Software Engineer position at Citadel, specifically for the L3 level. It is designed to assess a candidate's technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit within the company.
Rounds·3
Timeline·~14d
Experience·1 - 3 yrs
Comp band·US$90000 - US$120000
Interview time·135 min
Evaluation
Preparation
Tips
Study plan
Fig · Study plan — 04 phases
01 / 04Phase 01 of 04
Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Basic Algorithms. Cover arrays, linked lists, trees, sorting, searching.
Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, hash maps) and their time/space complexity. Practice basic algorithms like sorting (merge sort, quicksort) and searching (binary search).
Phase 02 of 04
Weeks 3-4: Advanced Algorithms & Problem Solving. Focus on DP, graphs, greedy algorithms. Practice medium LeetCode problems.
Weeks 3-4: Dive deeper into algorithms, including dynamic programming, graph traversal (BFS, DFS), and greedy algorithms. Practice medium-difficulty coding problems on platforms like LeetCode.
Phase 03 of 04
Week 5: System Design Basics. Cover APIs, databases, caching, load balancing.
Week 5: Begin studying system design concepts. Understand topics like API design, database choices (SQL vs. NoSQL), caching strategies, load balancing, and microservices architecture. Review common system design interview questions.
Phase 04 of 04
Week 6: Advanced System Design & Behavioral Prep. Practice designing systems, prepare STAR method answers.
Week 6: Continue with system design, focusing on scalability, reliability, and distributed systems. Practice designing common systems like a URL shortener or a Twitter feed. Also, prepare for behavioral questions.
Questions
Locations
Fig · Regions — 03 locations
01 / 03Location
Interview focus
Common questions
Tips
Location
Interview focus
Common questions
Tips
Location
Interview focus
Common questions
Tips
Rounds
Expand a step for evaluation criteria, sample questions, and prep notes.
Technical Interview - Data Structures And Algorithms · 45 min · Software Engineer
This round focuses on your fundamental programming skills. You will be asked to solve coding problems that test your knowledge of data structures and algorithms. The interviewer will assess how you approach the problem, your ability to write clean and efficient code, and how you handle edge cases. Expect to write code on a whiteboard or a shared online editor.
What they look for
Evaluation
Sample questions
Given a binary tree, find its inorder traversal.
Implement a function to find the kth smallest element in an unsorted array.
Prep for this round
Common rejection reasons
Technical Interview - System Design · 60 min · Senior Software Engineer / Architect
In this round, you will be presented with a high-level problem and asked to design a system to solve it. This could involve designing a social media feed, a URL shortener, or a distributed key-value store. The focus is on your ability to think about scalability, reliability, performance, and trade-offs in system design.
What they look for
Evaluation
Sample questions
Design a system like Twitter's news feed.
How would you design a rate limiter?
Prep for this round
Common rejection reasons
Behavioral Interview · 30 min · Hiring Manager
This round is focused on understanding your past experiences, your motivations, and how you would fit into the team and company culture. You'll be asked behavioral questions about your strengths, weaknesses, how you handle conflict, and your career aspirations. Be prepared to provide specific examples using the STAR method.
What they look for
Evaluation
Sample questions
Tell me about a time you failed and what you learned from it.
How do you stay updated with new technologies?
Prep for this round
Common rejection reasons
DSA
Frequently reported on Citadel loops
Other guides
