Mastering Bloomberg's Software Engineer Interview: Tackling Doubly Linked List Challenges

Software Engineering
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Bloomberg | Software Engineer | Interview Experience

Interview Date: Not specified
Result: Not specified
Difficulty: Not specified

Interview Process

The interview was conducted in person at the university and lasted about one hour. The interviewer was friendly and we began with a brief introduction and discussion about my previous experiences listed on my resume. He asked why I was interested in Bloomberg and what I knew about the company. The remaining time focused on technical questions, utilizing a whiteboard and paper for explanations.

Technical Questions

  1. Flatten a Multilevel Doubly Linked List (DFS, Linked List)
    The problem was presented without the prev pointer, only using next and child pointers. I used a recursive DFS approach with two parameters: prev and current.

  2. Shuffle a Deck of Cards
    The task was to implement a shuffle function for a given list of cards. I proposed starting with a pointer at the first index of the array, using random.choice() on all indices including the pointer, and then shifting the pointer by one until reaching the end of the list.

Tips & Insights

The interviewer appreciated my solutions, though we spent significant time ensuring he understood the algorithm for the first question. At the end of the interview, I was given five minutes to ask questions.