I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at G-Research in Aug 2017
Interview
The first phase was solving some problems on HackerRank. I wasn't familiar with HackerRank before, so I prepared by solving some problems on it a few days before the test. On the test itself, the questions were not particularly hard in and of themselves, but the time was very limited and didn't give me much chance to sit down and really think about what I'm doing. I'm not particularly good at relying on "programming reflexes" rather than thinking deeply about the problem, and ran out of time on the last question, but I got through anyway.
The second phase was on-line interview with two people from G-Research, through the HackerRank's pair-programming platform. They asked me to describe interesting projects I worked on, what testing strategies I used etc. After that, we started writing code in C# and at one point they asked me about implementing some cache eviction strategies. Implementing caches not being a part of my day-to-day job, I fumbled at first, but asked additional clarifications and got it right in the end. In all honesty, I did implement some caching code few years ago, but that was a VERY different case (with multi-threading and completely different eviction strategy), so I needed some time to get my bearings right. However, my interviewers thought I was not fast enough, so they decided to end the interview.
I think that's odd. Apparently they want engineers who win "interview lottery" (are familiar with the question a-priori), instead of somebody who can cope with an unfamiliar problem.
Also, they didn't ask me anything about libraries, programming languages or databases or any of the other "technologies" I mentioned on the CV. Not even "what is a database index" type of question, even though they indicated their stack relies on SQL Server.
Overall, I wouldn't call the experience "negative", it was just odd.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Implement "most recently used" cache eviction strategy (in the context of a memoized function).
Thank you for taking the time to give your feedback.
We are sorry you did not have a positive interview experience with G-Research. If you can, please email marketing@gresearch.co.uk to give some more information about your experience so that we can investigate this further.
I applied online. I interviewed at G-Research (London, England)
Interview
Applied via G-Research's website, and after two days I had a reply from their internal recruiter. The e-mail exchange was good and the recruiter was also very friendly. When asked to prepare for interview I was given some vague answers and what to expect in the test.
Upon arriving at the interview I was handed an NDA form which the recruiter didn't know much about which made me feel slightly uncomfortable with the whole process. Apparently mobile devices were supposed to be handed to recruiter before the test began which didn't happen.
When completing the test a member of the IT department came into the room to ask me about my skills and work experience; I was slightly uncomfortable because there was no eye contact very little feedback from interviewer and a lot of nerves which also made me nervous. After that a second member of the IT department came in and that went slightly better but there were some points made such as "we hire the best of the best" etc. I really do not appreciate interviewers spinning their ID card when interviewing, it makes it extremely unprofessional and almost like you do not want to be in that room with the candidate.
When asked how the test was and giving them an answer: "I really enjoyed the test, it was fun"; I received odd looks on both occasions as if I was slightly crazy. The test was genuinely good and exciting, I wish more companies would do this!
Unfortunately even if everything did go forwards I would not be able to work with people that are somewhat stuck in their own shells. As an extrovert I found it extremely difficult to communicate with the two interviewers and if they hire "the best" I am afraid they are doing it the wrong way.
Good luck all, please be aware as these interviews are cold interviews and you may feel uncomfortable. I am yet to receive any feedback from G-Research which makes them look extremely unprofessional. I would appreciate a simple “You did not fit the bill, thank you for trying”.
3
G-Research response
8y
Thank you for taking the time to give your feedback.
We are sorry you did not have a positive interview experience with G-Research. If you can, please email marketing@gresearch.co.uk to give some more information about your experience so that we can investigate this further.
I applied online on 21st July. Received preparation material on 26th July, which include probability theory, martingales (stopping times), Markov processes (gambling problems), ordinary least squares regression, estimation theory, modern portfolio theory (CAPM and APT) and C++ (operator overloading and backtracking); however, none of the links to the lecture notes worked. I contacted G-Research on 26th July via email and jobvite.com, and 11th August via phone to inquire about the progress of the application, yet no reply. As a result I made a fresh application on 17th August, hopefully this time I'll get a interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Probability theory, martingales (stopping times), Markov processes (gambling problems), ordinary least squares regression, estimation theory, modern portfolio theory (CAPM and APT) and C++ (operator overloading and backtracking)