I applied online. I interviewed at Qualcomm in Jun 2025
Interview
It was a screening round with description of what the responsibilities of the role are and questions mostly based on resume and computer architecture fundamentals as the role required the candidate to have some knowledge on computer architecture fundamentals.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
To describe what network topology I used in one of my networking projects
3 rounds.
Round 1- c based questions
Round 2 - microcontroller, os specific questions
round 3 - System design related questions.
Most revolve around the concept of operating system, memory allocation, memory consumption of various structures. Design questions revolve around common data structures like linked lists, trees, hashtables, arrays etc. Also some puzzles were asked, which revolved around optimization like find solution in minimum number of attempts.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given a structure with 2 16 bit integers, one float, 5 booleans, what is the size it would consume in a processor with 32 bit architecture? What would be its size in a 64 and 16 bit architecture?
What is padding, why is it needed and how is it managed in structures, arrays, when the data structure size is not same as the processors architecture?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 7 months. I interviewed at Qualcomm (San Diego, CA) in Mar 2025
Interview
Quite simply the longest interview process I've ever experienced. Started in February with discussions with the hiring manager who I know. Proceeded to interviews with several leaders in Product and Engineering in March. 2 leaders just didn't show up for the calls, which was disrespectful to the candidate. Notified in late April I was short listed, and then didn't hear anything from Qualcomm, even though I sent emails to the hiring manager and recruiter on an average of every 10 days. I've hired these roles before, and would never treat a candidate with such disrespect.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked me about my views on embedded systems for client.