Qualcomm Staff Software Engineer Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Applied through their website and got an email from recruiter a couple of days later. She arranged a phone interview with the group leader and two engineers at the same time. They asked a bit about my experience, a few C++ questions and some very basic unix shell command questions - I did not expect for such basic questions.

After a few days I was invited for an onsite interview with this group. I had 10 1:1 interviews plus HR at the end of the day. My interview was scheduled for 8:30 with HR, but he did not show up. Started 1:1 interviews with engineers at 9:30.

Most questions where about C++, software engineering practices, networks (TCP/UDP). There were a few of those annoying trick questions. I got to talk about some of my projects with a few of the engineers, which then asked about some specifics.

In the interview with the group leader he described at a high level the project that the position was for, and emphasized that work may get hard often - many releases and pressure. He warned me about that many times as my previous employer dealt with research projects and didn't have as many hard deadlines.

More than a month passed without any feedback and any refunds from my expenses during the trip - not very professional of them. Overall it was good for me to see how I did not fit in that group. The vast majority of engineers are from the same country, and I prefer a bit more diverse group. Also most of them look very tired, which is not a good sign.

Benefits seemed to be very good and location can't get any better. Maybe I'll try a position with another group at QC.

Interview Details – I got interviewed for the Staff Engineer position. First two levels of phone interview and then 4 or 5 direct interviews same day.

Good : You will come to know what exactly is the environment of the team you are going to work. Phone interviews are good .Direct interviews also test your domain knowledge as well as your language specific skills. There will be 5 to 6 direct interviews with the team members.

Bad : They are simply wasting time of those who are not selected. One day is wasted fully of the candidate in case he is not selected. They call several guys for direct interview. Its better if they call only those who have a better chance . The HR never gets back to you after the interview, if you ask them after two weeks or so, they will tell they are looking for closest match. Same profile you can see opened in there site after some months time. Nobody knows what they are looking for ?

In brief, you need to be somewhat technically sound for clearing the interviews. But rest is mere luck , nothing else. It seems there is internal politics in decision making.

Interview Details – After the resume was referred by one of the employees, got a call from the HR after 2 to 3 months. A telephonic discussion was setup and the hiring manager explained about the position and tried to understand my areas of expertise.
After the telephonic discussion was cleared, on-site interview was scheduled and there were 3 technical interviews with peers of hiring manager. Finally there was a discussion with the hiring manager and also with the group VP.