Three-stage interview. First was asynchronous interview using Sonru. The second stage was the coding exercise and finally panel interview followed by a test and "meet the team activity" (all 3 activities in one day). To sum up, I invested like 8 hours total of my time in this process, and in return, I received 50 seconds voicemail message around 19 on Friday with feedback that they selected someone from inside CERN (there were 3 other people besides me in the final stage). The message included a promise that if I want to hear more feedback I should contact. I wanted to follow up to receive more info, called back 2 times, mailed once but I got no further response. This is my real issue with this process, I invested so much time to get 50 seconds in return. I would definitely score this experience neutral or even positive if I would get more in return.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions about real-time projects, embedded, distributed systems, and standard C++ questions with some elements of modern C++. Additionally 2-3 python questions and some mutex, multithreading theory.
Thank you for your review. We are sorry to read about this experience you had, which is below our usual standards as we know how important and valuable feedback is. Please do reach out to us at recruitment.service@cern.ch so that you can have the due information and helpful input that all our interviewees at CERN should receive. thank you and all the best for the future!
Other Software Engineer Interview Reviews for CERN
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at CERN in Apr 2025
Interview
There was a single interview after the document screening. I was asked about my experience regarding what was listed in the job opening's "skills" section.
They also gave me the chance to ask questions about the project, which led to a short discussion about some of the technical aspects of it.
The interviewers were nice, and I did not feel under pressure at any point.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked about my experience with the technologies, programming languages, etc. listed in the job opening's "skills" section.
Technical and non-technical questions from a panel of team members. About 45 minutes in duration, and the interviewers were very friendly. Did not have to wait too long to hear back.
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at CERN (Geneva) in Jun 2023
Interview
application on smartrecruiters - invitation to do a recorded video interview in which one is recorded to answer a set of questions (non-interactively) - invitation to final phase for a 45min interview with a panel.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
one can do a 10min presentation; then questions about experience and a few behavioural questions (nothing surprising) - questions can be in eiher English or French.
