Booz Allen Hamilton Software Engineer Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Had three one-on-one interviews with different members of the same team. The first one was asking C questions, second was Java questions, third was SQL. Mostly generic entry-level questions (talk about inheritance, foreign keys, etc). Also was given a brief written test in C and Java (30 min each). The Java test was based around a few classes with inheritance (Pet interface, cat class, dog class). Determine what properties transfer, etc. Some basic questions about Spring/Hibernate and general OOP.

Negotiation Details – Internal transfer, limited negotiation.

Interview Details – Brought in dozens of candidates, quick presentation, and then a series of interviews in large rooms with other candidates. Talked to one engineer for behavioral interview (who admitted he didn't know how to conduct a behavioral interview so we just walked about me resume) and another for a technical interview (who played dumb with every solution I gave him only to admit at the end that he was jerking me around to see what I said, and that I had the best solutions he'd seen that day). Fed us lunch and then sent us back to the airport.

Reason for Declining – Lack of respect for candidates, obviously didn't prepare interviewers, shady interviewing practices, and the company overview presentation made the company seem smarmy and shady. Big emphasis that the employees are there to make the company money, not for the company to help the employee. Luckily I had several offers so I didn't need to work someplace that treats you that way.

Interview Details – Applied via their web system. Received a reply within a few days. I had a phone interview with a recruiter, she pretty much just asked me about the things on my resume. A few days later i had a 1 on 1 interview with 5 employees.

The questions were mostly behavioral. "Tell me about a time when...." sorts of questions. Two of the interviewers gave me a simple algorithm to write out on paper then code onto a laptop. I answered them correctly.

A word to the wise, if you put something on your resume, they'll probably ask you about it. So don't overload your resume, you're not going to impress anyone.

Another tip is to attempt to engage the HR person, i made the mistake of pretty much letting her talk for her 15 minutes, without really engaging her. I don't think it actually cost me the position, but i should have engaged her the same way i did the techies.

My main "issue" with the interview process even though i was told they'd get back to me in a week and i went through the "thank you" letter after the interview bit, not one of those 5 people felt it necessary to ever get back to me. I emailed the HR person two weeks later and i was simply told "We want someone with more experience, please look at other positions on our website".

Overall, i had a positive experience with the staff during the interview, but the whole never getting back to me part is what made this a neutral experience.

Interview Details – I responded to a recruiter e-mail and was offered to come in for an interview. I interviewed with managers from 3 separate projects or initiatives. Although the initiative I was originally contacted for did not extend an offer, one of the other managers and I hit it off and I was extended an offer to join his team.

Negotiation Details – I was able to negotiate and we met in the middle of their offer and my counter.

Interview Details – My friend referred me directly to the hiring manager and HR contacted me in one week for on-site interview. The on site interview is about 4 hrs long and I would say the interview questions were fair.

Later after i joined the company, I also participated the interview-hire process. Per the process, 3-4 people were required for each candidate and there was a key interviewer assigned. The key interviewer is responsible to write down the review and give the recommendation.

Interview Details – I ran into one of the recruiters at my University and applied for an internship. It took about a month between each initial application to get any indication of where I was in the process.

My first time I was brought in to interview for a software engineering internship. The room was filled with 20-30 senior and juniors. I was not accepted the first time but one year later I applied and was accepted.

I believe about half were accepted. The people who interviewed seemed genuine and answered what was asked. Of course they did not include any bad things, but it was a very comfortable environment throughout the process. I asked if I would be able to move around the firm after getting in and one of the senior executives said that probably not at first.