SPARC Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SPARC.

Interview

Referred by employee -> HR phone interview -> programming problem -> video interview with two engineers -> in person on one day: two young engineers(1 hour), CTO (30 minutes), two older engineers(1 hour) -> wait -> phone call with offer & I negotiated salary -> next day they called with the negotiated offer and I accepted

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC) in March 2015.

Interview

A SPARC Recruiter contacted me via LinkedIn. We had a good chat after agreeing to speak. They set up a code challenge sort of thing, which I did. The challenge was very problematic. Nothing worked right in getting the code and instructions to me, or in submitting it. The recruiter did not attempt to contact me after that. I contacted her, and she still wanted me to come out for an interview. Or at least that's what she said. Never heard from her again. I didn't want to waste my time speaking or dealing with SAPRC again in any way. The entire company comes off as very "too cool for school" and from the people I know who have worked there in the past, they're anything but. The recruiters were very unprofessional. Maybe Booz Allen Hamilton will turn things around?

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC) in June 2015.

Interview

Arrived at the facility, found out that there was absolutely no parking, and had to park in the woods on a dirt road. People were nice when I entered the building, and the recruiting specialist and someone from HR came up to meet me and gave me a tour of the facility. Waited and sat and waited for interviewer to come into room. Interviewer proceeded to bring in a laptop and a cell phone (while carrying on an online conversation), and proceeded to ask me one or two questions. The total interview was about 15 or so minutes.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at SPARC in September 2016.

Interview

I was contacted by recruiter who saw my resume online, and they setup a normal phone screening. After the screening, they setup a virtual interview. Virtual interview was an easy conversation about fairly topical and general things. After following up with the recruiter, they said they had moved forward with other candidates and had no feedback.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC).

Interview

First was the phone interview with HR. They were extensive in their recruiting and screening. Then there was an in-person programming test, where I had to write some Java code. And then three rounds of technical panel interviews with too many questions to recall.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC) in October 2016.

Interview

Call with HR, coding exercise. Coding exercise was timed, very academic, and very easy. However, it was the kind of thing a software student completes (hackerrank.com). The task was completely unrelated to any industry experience i have gained in 10+ years. HR immediately started wanting to discuss salary before even getting to the on-site portion of the interview. Continued to lowball me, despite advertising for a senior engineering role. I declined to continue with the interview process at that point. Extremely unprofessional experience. Waste of time.

Interview Questions

Application

The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC) in July 2011.

Interview

Interview process was great from both perspectives. Had access to senior management and also spent time on site with a bunch of employees. Was also invited to spend time at the office at one of their parties. This was a great chance to interact on a personal level with a lot of future co workers that you spend a lot of time with inside and outside of work.

Interview Questions

Negotiation

Negotiation was possible but at the end of the day you really want to do what you can to come onboard and make your mark at SPARC!

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took a week. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC) in May 2014.

Interview

HR hiring assistant was very informal. During the interview pre-assessment, the assistant used the word 'awesome' more times than I would recommend. Sparc is known for being a laid back environment so I was not surprised. I was notified of the process of the interview steps.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC) in April 2015.

Interview

1 phone interview, 1 skype then came in for a long 2 hour interview. It was very tough but gave me a great idea on how the company works.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2+ weeks. I interviewed at SPARC (Charleston, SC) in October 2015.

Interview

I was contacted by a recruiter in 2015 and set up an on site interview after an initial phone screen. The people were nice enough and the interview was mostly fine. I did get a hint of age discrimination from some of the people I met with or either it came across as a very cliquish attitude.

Overall, the culture, atmosphere at Sparc seemed great.

Once I found out my former employer, Booz Allen, was acquiring Sparc, I contacted the recruiter and let her know I was no longer interested. I found this out not long after the on site interview and before I received any feedback from the visit.

As a previous BAH employee in GA, I can tell you, BAH was the most miserable employment experience I've ever had. I quit after being there a year.

Once the "leadership" (I use this term loosely), or call them old dinosaurs, at BAH gets its claws into Sparc, you can kiss the current culture goodbye. The leadership mentality at BAH is still stuck in the 1960s.

Based on my experience with BAH; probably gone from Sparc will be...
*Unlimited PTO/VAC time - when I was at BAH, accruing time off was difficult, but hey, they'll let you go "in the hole" and owe the company.
*All the toys, games, alcohol, open work spaces, etc will be gone. BAH dinosaurs love cubicles.
*Kiss the casual dress code goodbye. BAH is ran by dress code control freaks. (Think of the tv show Madmen).
Women - highly encouraged to wear dresses, high heels, but can wear business pant suits, business skirts w blazers.
Men - all men must wear button up long sleeve dress shirts, dress shoes, dress pants. Ties are highly encouraged.
Jeans or shorts? Forget it! Anything comfortable to wear will be gone.
*Bring dogs to work benefit, gone.
*Anything that remotely gives the impression of a flexible, creative or fun work environment will be gone.

Maybe the culture at BAH has changed since I was there, but I doubt it. The BAH culture isn't going to change until the old dinosaurs and their mindset become extinct.

Interview Questions