Alignable is a purpose-driven, remote-first startup in its growth stage, committed to empowering small business owners globally. Our mission is to connect these owners, enabling them to gain competitive advantages through quality referrals and supportive peer networks. With over 9 million businesses in 30,000+ communities, Alignable is North America's largest small business network.

We're seeking a Lead Software Engineer passionate about creating delightful user experiences and leading a high-performing team to support small businesses. You'll play a key role in shaping the future of our company and member base by collaborating closely with product management, design, and marketing teams. This position facilitates the growth and leadership of one of our five product squads: Networking, Relationships, Solutions, Groups & Events, and MarTech & Infrastructure. Based in the U.S., this role leverages a tech stack that includes Ruby/Rails, Elixir/Phoenix, React, and more.

Interested in transforming small business success? Join us at Alignable.

Let's get started with Interview Query's comprehensive guide!

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Alignable as a Software Engineer. Whether you were contacted by an Alignable recruiter or have taken the initiative yourself, carefully review the job description and tailor your CV according to the prerequisites.

Tailoring your CV may include identifying specific keywords that the hiring manager might use to filter resumes and crafting a targeted cover letter. Furthermore, don’t forget to highlight relevant skills and mention your work experiences.

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your CV happens to be among the shortlisted few, a recruiter from the Alignable Talent Acquisition Team will make contact and verify key details like your experiences and skill level. Behavioral questions may also be a part of the screening process.

In some cases, the Alignable hiring manager stays present during the screening round to answer your queries about the role and the company itself. They may also indulge in surface-level technical and behavioral discussions.

The whole recruiter call should take about 30 minutes.

Technical Virtual Interview

Successfully navigating the recruiter round will present you with an invitation for the technical screening round. Technical screening for the Alignable Software Engineer role usually is conducted through virtual means, including video conference and screen sharing. Questions in this 1-hour long interview stage may revolve around Alignable’s tech stack, databases, and coding challenges.

In the case of software engineering roles, take-home assignments regarding feature development, coding standards, and software optimization are incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency with various programming languages and frameworks, especially React and Ruby, may also be assessed during the round.

Depending on the seniority of the position, case studies and similar real-scenario problems may also be assigned.

Onsite or Advanced Virtual Interview Rounds

Following the technical virtual interview, you may be invited to attend onsite or advanced virtual interview rounds. Multiple interview rounds, varying with the role, will be conducted during this stage. Your technical prowess, including programming, system design, and problem-solving capabilities, will be evaluated through live coding exercises and design discussions.

If you were assigned take-home exercises, a presentation round may also await you during this interview stage for the Software Engineer role at Alignable.

Tips For Alignable Software Engineer Interviews

Here are a few tips for acing the Alignable interview:

• Understand the Technology Stack: Familiarize yourself with Alignable’s technology stack, including Ruby/Rails, React, Elixir/Phoenix, and AWS deployment models. This knowledge will come in handy during your technical interviews.
• Emphasize Your Collaboration Skills: Alignable values a collaborative mindset. Showcase your ability to work effectively within cross-functional teams, participate in design discussions, and provide valuable feedback during code reviews.
• Demonstrate Customer-Centric Problem Solving: Alignable is deeply obsessed with doing what is right for customers. Be prepared to discuss how you have solved customer challenges in previous roles and how you would apply this mindset to Alignable’s mission.

For dedicated practice and to enhance your preparation, consider using Interview Query.

Typically, interviews at Alignable vary by role and team, but commonly Software Engineer interviews follow a fairly standardized process across these question topics.

• Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. If more than one person shares the highest salary, the query should select the next highest salary.

• Write a function to merge two sorted lists into one sorted list. Given two sorted lists, write a function to merge them into one sorted list. Bonus: Determine the time complexity.

• Write a function missing_number to find the missing number in an array. You have an array of integers, nums of length n spanning 0 to n with one missing. Write a function missing_number that returns the missing number in the array. Complexity of (O(n)) required.

• Write a function precision_recall to calculate precision and recall metrics from a 2-D matrix. Given a 2-D matrix P of predicted values and actual values, write a function precision_recall to calculate precision and recall metrics. Return the ordered pair (precision, recall).

• Write a function to search for a target value in a rotated sorted array. Suppose an array sorted in ascending order is rotated at some pivot unknown to you beforehand. Write a function to search for a target value in the array and return its index, or -1 if not found. Bonus: Your algorithm's runtime complexity should be in the order of (O(\log n)).

• Would you think there was anything fishy about the results of an A/B test with 20 variants? Your manager ran an A/B test with 20 different variants and found one significant result. Would you suspect any issues with these results?

• How would you set up an A/B test to optimize button color and position for higher click-through rates? A team wants to A/B test changes in a sign-up funnel, such as changing a button from red to blue and/or moving it from the top to the bottom of the page. How would you design this test?

• What would you do if friend requests on Facebook are down 10%? A product manager at Facebook reports a 10% decrease in friend requests. What steps would you take to address this issue?

• Why might the number of job applicants be decreasing while job postings remain constant? You observe that job postings per day have remained stable, but the number of applicants has been steadily decreasing. What could be causing this trend?

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score datasets, and how would you reformat them for better analysis? You have data on student test scores in two different layouts. What are the drawbacks of these formats, and what changes would you make to improve their usefulness for analysis? Additionally, describe common problems in "messy" datasets.

• Is this a fair coin? You flip a coin 10 times, and it comes up tails 8 times and heads twice. Determine if the coin is fair based on this outcome.

• Write a function to calculate sample variance from a list of integers. Create a function that takes a list of integers and returns the sample variance, rounded to 2 decimal places. Example input: test_list = [6, 7, 3, 9, 10, 15]. Example output: get_variance(test_list) -> 13.89.

• Is there anything suspicious about the A/B test results with 20 variants? Your manager ran an A/B test with 20 different variants and found one significant result. Evaluate if there is anything suspicious about these results.

• How to find the median in a list with more than 50% of the same integer in O(1) time and space? Given a sorted list of integers where more than 50% of the list is the same integer, write a function to return the median value in (O(1)) computational time and space. Example input: li = [1,2,2]. Example output: median(li) -> 2.

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score data layouts? You have student test scores in two different layouts (dataset 1 and dataset 2). Identify the drawbacks of these layouts, suggest formatting changes for better analysis, and describe common problems in "messy" datasets.

• How would you evaluate whether using a decision tree algorithm is the correct model for predicting loan repayment? You are tasked with building a decision tree model to predict if a borrower will pay back a personal loan. How would you evaluate if a decision tree is the right choice? How would you evaluate the model's performance before and after deployment?

• How does random forest generate the forest and why use it over logistic regression? Explain how random forest generates its forest of trees. Additionally, discuss why you might choose random forest over logistic regression for certain problems.

• When would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm? Compare two machine learning algorithms. In which scenarios would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm? Provide examples of the tradeoffs between the two.

• How would you justify using a neural network to solve a business problem and explain predictions to non-technical stakeholders? Your manager asks you to build a model with a neural network to solve a business problem. How would you justify the complexity of this model and explain its predictions to non-technical stakeholders?

• What metrics would you use to track the accuracy and validity of a spam classifier for emails? You are tasked with building a spam classifier for emails and have completed a V1 of the model. What metrics would you use to track the model's accuracy and validity?

What is the average salary for a Software Engineer at Alignable?

Q: What is Alignable's mission? Alignable is on a mission to unify small business owners worldwide to help them attain a competitive edge and succeed. We believe small businesses are the backbone of our communities, and we are committed to supporting them through our extensive, engaged network.

Q: What is the typical tech stack at Alignable? Alignable employs a rich tech stack including Ruby/Rails with Postgres, Elixir/Phoenix, Redis, Memcached, and React & Typescript on the frontend. We also use Rspec and Enzyme for testing, AWS for deployment, and advanced analytics with Kinesis, Python, Pandas, Redshift, and machine learning tools like Pytorch and Tensorflow.

Q: How does Alignable support professional development and work-life balance? Alignable offers numerous benefits including competitive compensation, equity, health insurance, unlimited vacations with a mandatory 2-week consecutive break, flexible working hours, professional development programs, and a virtual working environment. Our culture promotes mentoring, autonomy, and teamwork, ensuring each employee has a significant impact on the business.

Q: What is Alignable's interview process for Software Engineers? The interview process at Alignable typically involves initial screening, technical interviews, and behavioral assessments. We focus on evaluating your technical expertise, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit within our dynamic and collaborative team environment.

Q: How can I best prepare for an interview at Alignable? To prepare for an interview at Alignable, familiarize yourself with our tech stack and practice common coding problems. Use resources like Interview Query to brush up on your technical skills and review critical concepts. Additionally, understand Alignable's mission and be ready to discuss how your experience and skills align with our goals.

Passionate about empowering small businesses and ready to shape the future of a growing tech team? Alignable is calling for skilled and enthusiastic Lead Software Engineers to lead a high-performing team in our remote-first, mission-driven startup. Join us in creating a global network where small businesses can thrive through trusted relationships and quality referrals. Dive into our dynamic and supportive environment, leverage your technical expertise, and make a lasting impact not just on your team, but on millions of small businesses.

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Alignable Interview Guide, where we cover many interview questions that could be asked. We’ve also created interview guides for other roles, such as software engineer and data analyst, where you can learn more about Alignable’s interview process for different positions.

At Interview Query, we empower you to unlock your interview prowess with a comprehensive toolkit, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence, and strategic guidance to conquer every Alignable software engineer interview question and challenge.

You can check out all our company interview guides for better preparation, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Good luck with your interview!