I applied online. I interviewed at Fanatics (New York, NY) in Sep 2025
Interview
- One coding phone screen round then panel interviews consisting of
- 2 behavorial interviews(typical Star Interviews)
- 1 coding interview(medium leetcode question)
- 1 system design interview(typical system design problem)
Interview process was average to difficult. I tried to get a reply from the recruiter after the panel interview but no response.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- STAR behavorial questions
- Design a system
- Easy-to-Medium leetcode question.
Applied directly online. Was part of the blitz hiring round. Had an initial screening going over my background, asked top 3 things i look for in the workplace, and expected salary. You're given a prep guide after. I then had a live coding interview in java that involved string manipulation + shortest path finding & the person who conducted it was absolutely amazing. I got news I passed the round less than 24 hours later. Then I had two separate behavioural interviews focused on different aspects of the company values: customer obsession & win as a team and balancing pragmatism with perfection. With the former I was only asked questions around working as a team though. Prepare STAR answers around the topic, there will be follow up questions based on your responses. The questions comes from a set of prepared questions and then the interviewers give their feedback to recruitment who make the decision. I got news I passed that round 48 hours after the second behavioural interview. The final stage was an in person system design interview in Dublin that followed a fireside chat with the CTO & a couple other members of leadership, was asked to design a platform where people could place bets. The requirements were a lot easier than expected. After there was a social which involved a tour of the wine distillery next door & dinner + chance to chat with other candidates & current workers. Received a branded goodybag with some merch like socks, a notebook, pen, and mints; also received a thank you card for attending the interview in person. After there's a short debrief meeting discussing your experience & getting feedback; atp it seems like they're gauging interest/availability before extending an offer. All expenses were paid & I got my money back in under 3 weeks. Took a week to hear back that I'd received an offer.
All the interviewers were great & friendly. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the company especially as I wanted to have my live coding interview be later but the recruiter pushed for it to be sooner claiming they were moving fast with hiring but meeting many colleagues made me excited about the company. I got feedback after each stage quickly, there was a 2 week gap between the behavioural interview & system design as it was in person but that gave me a chance to practice as I'd never done it before. Note that in the UK & Ireland salary negotiation may not be possible due to their processes being different from the USA arm. I also like that you get a prep guide with useful info on the process. Recruiters were great & answered queries/gave feedback promptly. The reason why the experience gets average is because other logistics stuff such as travel took a long time to hear anything back on; even as I onboard the response is much slower. It took multiple emails right to the last working day before I was to travel to dublin before I received information regarding flight & hotel booking - not ideal going to another country not having these details to hand sooner. Other than that, the recruitment process was great & less stressful than others. Like the JD said they value aptitude over experience/knowledge of tech things.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
have i ever worked cross functionally in a team where the team i depended on were underperforming, when did i make a mistake that affected the team & how did i handle it, how do i build trust going into a new team, When did i work with a dev with a different work style & how did i address this, When was team morale low & how did i increase it, Have I mentored a junior & they didn't agree with my teaching methods
For the pragmatism & ambiguity one, prep some STAR stories around dealing with ambiguity & going ahead even if things weren't perfect. I was also asked my favourite backend project I worked on & what my most intellectually challenging project I worked on was. Also asked about a time where I'd worked on an existing codebase.
I applied online. I interviewed at Fanatics (Seattle, WA)
Interview
There is one coding round, and if you pass the coding round, then there are 3 rounds - system design, and 2 behavioral interviews. Overall a good interview experience with the interviewers.