Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Software EngineerAuthorized OfficerMedium to Hard

This interview process is for the Software Engineer role at the Authorized Officer level at UBS. It is designed to assess a candidate's technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit within the organization.

Rounds·3

Timeline·~14d

Experience·4 - 7 yrs

Comp band·US$110000 - US$150000

Interview time·165 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Problem-solving skills
  • Technical depth and breadth
  • System design capabilities
  • Coding proficiency
  • Communication skills
  • Teamwork and collaboration
  • Cultural fit and alignment with UBS values

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Thoroughly review your resume and be prepared to discuss every project in detail.
  2. Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, focusing on data structures and algorithms.
  3. Study system design principles and common architectural patterns.
  4. Understand the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and Agile methodologies.
  5. Research UBS's business, values, and recent news.
  6. Prepare examples for behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  7. Be ready to discuss your career goals and why you are interested in UBS.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Data Structures and Algorithms

Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA) fundamentals. Practice coding.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (Arrays, Linked Lists, Trees, Graphs, Hash Tables) and algorithms (Sorting, Searching, Dynamic Programming, Greedy Algorithms). Practice coding these in your preferred language. Review Big O notation for time and space complexity.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Tell me about yourself.
  • Why are you interested in this role at UBS?
  • Describe a challenging project you worked on and how you overcame it.
  • How do you handle working under pressure or tight deadlines?
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • Design a system for [specific problem, e.g., a ride-sharing service].
  • Write code to solve [specific algorithm problem, e.g., find the kth largest element in an array].
  • How would you ensure the scalability and reliability of a financial trading platform?
  • Describe a time you disagreed with a team member or manager. How did you resolve it?
  • What are your thoughts on microservices architecture?
  • How do you stay updated with new technologies?
  • What are your career aspirations for the next 5 years?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

Zurich

Interview focus

Emphasis on practical application of knowledge in financial systems.Understanding of regulatory compliance and its impact on software development.Experience with specific financial technologies or platforms used in the region.

Common questions

  • How would you handle a large-scale data migration project?
  • Describe a time you had to optimize a slow-performing application. What steps did you take?
  • What are your thoughts on the current trends in cloud computing and how might they impact financial services?
  • Discuss a complex technical challenge you faced in a previous role and how you overcame it.

Tips

  • Research UBS's presence and operations in this specific region.
  • Be prepared to discuss how your technical skills can address regional market needs.
  • Familiarize yourself with any local financial regulations that might be relevant.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

Expand a step for evaluation criteria, sample questions, and prep notes.

Hard

Technical Interview - Data Structures And Algorithms · 60 min · Senior Software Engineer or Technical Lead

This round focuses on your core technical skills. You will be asked to solve one or two coding problems, typically involving data structures and algorithms. The interviewer will assess your ability to write clean, efficient, and correct code, as well as your thought process in arriving at the solution. Expect questions that test your understanding of complexity analysis and how to optimize solutions.

What they look for

Strong grasp of data structures and algorithms.Ability to translate requirements into working code.Logical thinking and systematic approach to problem-solving.Understanding of time and space complexity.Clean and maintainable code.

Evaluation

  • Correctness of the solution
  • Efficiency of the solution (time and space complexity)
  • Code quality and readability
  • Problem-solving approach
  • Ability to explain the solution

Sample questions

  • Given a binary tree, find its inorder traversal.

    Data StructuresTreesRecursion

  • Implement a function to find the median of a stream of numbers.

    Data StructuresHeapsAlgorithms

  • Given an array of integers, find the contiguous subarray with the largest sum.

    AlgorithmsDynamic ProgrammingArrays

Prep for this round

  1. 01Practice coding on a whiteboard or a shared editor.
  2. 02Think out loud and explain your approach before coding.
  3. 03Test your code with various inputs, including edge cases.
  4. 04Be prepared to discuss alternative solutions and their trade-offs.

Common rejection reasons

  • ×Inability to articulate thought process during coding.
  • ×Incorrect or inefficient algorithmic solutions.
  • ×Lack of understanding of fundamental data structures.
  • ×Poorly designed system architecture.
  • ×Inability to handle edge cases.

DSA

Coding questions at UBS.

Frequently reported on UBS loops

View all at UBS

Other guides

More at UBS.