Bentley Systems is a leading infrastructure engineering software company dedicated to advancing the world's infrastructure while promoting sustainability and enhancing quality of life.

As a Software Engineer at Bentley, you will play a critical role in developing innovative software solutions that transition infrastructure assets into the digital realm. This position involves collaborating with a talented team to design, implement, and maintain software applications that leverage cutting-edge technologies like the iTwin Platform, AI/ML, and IoT. Key responsibilities include writing well-documented and maintainable code, participating in the agile development process, and employing DevOps practices to ensure efficient software delivery. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in C++ development, a solid understanding of software engineering principles, and a passion for creating high-performance, user-friendly applications that contribute to Bentley's mission of sustainable infrastructure development.

This guide is designed to help you prepare for your interview by highlighting the essential skills, experiences, and values that Bentley Systems seeks in a Software Engineer, ensuring you present yourself as a strong candidate who aligns with the company's objectives and culture.

The interview process for a Software Engineer at Bentley Systems is structured to assess both technical skills and cultural fit within the organization. Here’s what you can expect:

1. Initial Screening

The first step in the interview process is typically a phone screening with a recruiter. This conversation lasts about 30 minutes and focuses on your background, experience, and motivations for applying to Bentley. The recruiter will also provide insights into the company culture and the specifics of the Software Engineer role. This is an opportunity for you to express your interest in Bentley's mission and how your skills align with their needs.

2. Technical Assessment

Following the initial screening, candidates usually undergo a technical assessment. This may take the form of a coding challenge or a technical interview conducted via video call. During this stage, you will be asked to solve programming problems, often using C++ or other relevant languages. Expect to demonstrate your understanding of algorithms, data structures, and software design principles. You may also be evaluated on your ability to write clean, maintainable code and your familiarity with modern development practices.

3. Behavioral Interview

After successfully completing the technical assessment, candidates typically participate in a behavioral interview. This round is designed to evaluate your soft skills, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities. Interviewers will ask about your past experiences, how you handle challenges, and your approach to collaboration. They will be looking for evidence of your communication skills and your ability to fit into Bentley's collaborative culture.

4. Onsite or Final Interview

The final stage of the interview process may involve an onsite interview or a final video call with key team members. This round often includes multiple interviews with different stakeholders, such as team leads and project managers. You will be asked to discuss your previous projects in detail, your role in those projects, and how you approach software development challenges. This is also a chance for you to ask questions about the team dynamics, ongoing projects, and Bentley's future direction.

5. Offer and Negotiation

If you successfully navigate the previous stages, you will receive a job offer. This will include details about salary, benefits, and other employment terms. Be prepared to discuss your expectations and negotiate if necessary.

As you prepare for your interview, consider the specific questions that may arise during each stage of the process.

Here are some tips to help you excel in your interview.

Understand the Role and Its Impact

Before your interview, take the time to deeply understand the responsibilities of a Software Engineer at Bentley Systems. Familiarize yourself with the specific technologies and methodologies mentioned in the job description, such as C++, SQL Server, Azure, and DevOps practices. Reflect on how your past experiences align with these requirements and be prepared to discuss how you can contribute to Bentley's mission of advancing infrastructure through innovative software solutions.

Showcase Your Technical Expertise

Given the technical nature of the role, be ready to demonstrate your proficiency in C++ and other relevant programming languages. Prepare to discuss your experience with 3D runtime engines, graphics algorithms, and any relevant projects you've worked on. Highlight your familiarity with modern software development practices, including CI/CD pipelines and automated testing, as these are crucial for the role.

Emphasize Collaboration and Communication Skills

Bentley values teamwork and collaboration, so be prepared to discuss your experiences working in agile environments and how you’ve contributed to team success. Share examples of how you’ve mentored colleagues or collaborated with cross-functional teams. Strong communication skills are essential, so practice articulating your thoughts clearly and concisely.

Prepare for Problem-Solving Scenarios

Expect to encounter problem-solving questions that assess your analytical thinking and coding skills. Practice coding challenges that require you to optimize performance or debug existing code. Be ready to explain your thought process and the rationale behind your decisions, as this will demonstrate your ability to tackle complex problems effectively.

Align with Company Culture

Research Bentley Systems' company culture and values. They emphasize innovation, collaboration, and a commitment to sustainability. Be prepared to discuss how your personal values align with the company’s mission and how you can contribute to a positive team environment. Showing that you understand and resonate with their culture can set you apart from other candidates.

Ask Insightful Questions

Prepare thoughtful questions to ask your interviewers. Inquire about the team dynamics, the technologies they are currently exploring, or how they measure success in the role. This not only shows your genuine interest in the position but also helps you assess if Bentley is the right fit for you.

Follow Up with Gratitude

After the interview, send a thank-you email to express your appreciation for the opportunity to interview. Reiterate your enthusiasm for the role and briefly mention a key point from the conversation that resonated with you. This small gesture can leave a lasting impression and reinforce your interest in the position.

By following these tips, you can present yourself as a well-prepared and enthusiastic candidate who is ready to contribute to Bentley Systems' innovative projects and collaborative culture. Good luck!

Bentley Systems Software Engineer Interview Questions

In this section, we’ll review the various interview questions that might be asked during a Bentley Systems software engineer interview. The interview will assess your technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and your fit within the collaborative culture of the company. Be prepared to discuss your experience with C++, SQL databases, and modern software development practices, as well as your approach to teamwork and mentoring.

Technical Skills

1. Can you explain the principles of object-oriented programming and how you have applied them in your projects?

Understanding OOP is crucial for software development. Be ready to discuss the four main principles: encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and abstraction.

How to Answer

Provide a brief overview of each principle and give a specific example from your experience where you applied these principles effectively.

Example

“In my last project, I utilized encapsulation by creating classes that managed their own data and provided public methods for interaction. This not only improved code maintainability but also enhanced security by restricting direct access to the data.”

2. Describe your experience with C++ and any specific features you find particularly useful.

C++ is a key language for this role, so demonstrating your proficiency is essential.

How to Answer

Discuss your experience level with C++, highlighting any advanced features you have used, such as templates, smart pointers, or the Standard Template Library (STL).

Example

“I have over five years of experience with C++, and I often use smart pointers to manage memory efficiently. For instance, in a recent project, I implemented a resource manager using unique_ptr to ensure proper resource cleanup without memory leaks.”

3. How do you approach debugging and profiling performance issues in your applications?

Debugging and performance optimization are critical skills for a software engineer.

How to Answer

Explain your debugging process, the tools you use, and how you identify performance bottlenecks.

Example

“I typically start debugging by reproducing the issue and using tools like GDB for step-by-step execution. For performance profiling, I use tools like Valgrind and Visual Studio Profiler to identify hotspots and optimize them, which significantly improved our application’s response time by 30%.”

4. Can you discuss your experience with SQL databases, particularly SQL Server or Azure SQL?

Database management is an important aspect of many software applications.

How to Answer

Share your experience with SQL, including writing queries, optimizing performance, and any specific projects where you utilized SQL databases.

Example

“I have worked extensively with SQL Server, writing complex queries to extract and manipulate data. In one project, I optimized a slow-running report query by indexing key columns, which reduced execution time from several minutes to under 10 seconds.”

5. What is your experience with CI/CD pipelines, and how have you implemented them in your projects?

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment are vital for modern software development.

How to Answer

Discuss your familiarity with CI/CD tools and how you have integrated them into your workflow.

Example

“I have implemented CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, which automated our build and deployment processes. This not only reduced deployment time but also minimized errors, allowing us to release updates to production multiple times a week.”

Collaboration and Teamwork

1. Describe a time when you had to mentor a junior developer. What approach did you take?

Mentoring is an important aspect of team dynamics, especially in a collaborative environment.

How to Answer

Share your mentoring philosophy and a specific example of how you guided a junior developer.

Example

“I believe in hands-on mentoring, so I paired with a junior developer on a project. I encouraged them to take the lead on tasks while I provided guidance and feedback. This approach helped them gain confidence and improve their coding skills significantly.”

2. How do you handle conflicts within a team? Can you provide an example?

Conflict resolution is key to maintaining a productive team environment.

How to Answer

Discuss your conflict resolution strategy and provide a specific example of a conflict you resolved.

Example

“When a disagreement arose over the design approach in a project, I facilitated a meeting where each team member could present their perspective. By focusing on the project goals and encouraging open communication, we reached a consensus that combined the best ideas from both sides.”

3. Can you give an example of how you have contributed to a team’s success?

Demonstrating your impact on team success shows your value as a team player.

How to Answer

Share a specific instance where your contributions led to a successful outcome for the team.

Example

“I led a project to refactor our legacy codebase, which was causing frequent bugs. By implementing best practices and involving the team in code reviews, we improved code quality and reduced bug reports by 40% in the following release cycle.”

4. How do you stay updated with the latest technologies and industry trends?

Continuous learning is essential in the tech industry.

How to Answer

Discuss your methods for staying informed about new technologies and trends.

Example

“I regularly attend industry conferences and participate in online courses. I also follow tech blogs and forums to keep up with the latest developments. Recently, I completed a course on cloud services, which I applied to our projects to enhance scalability.”

5. What role do you typically take in team projects?

Understanding your role in a team context can help assess your fit within the company culture.

How to Answer

Describe your preferred role and how it contributes to team dynamics.

Example

“I often take on the role of a facilitator, ensuring that everyone’s ideas are heard and that we stay aligned with our goals. I believe that fostering collaboration leads to better outcomes and a more engaged team.”

• 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: What's the time complexity?

• Create 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.

• Develop 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. You are given a target value to search. If the value is in the array, return its index; otherwise, return -1. 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 the number of job postings per day has remained stable, but the number of applicants has been 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 based on 10 flips resulting in 8 tails and 2 heads? You flipped a coin 10 times, resulting in 8 tails and 2 heads. Determine if this outcome suggests the coin is fair.

• How would you write a function to calculate sample variance for a list of integers? Write a function that takes a list of integers and outputs the sample variance, rounded to 2 decimal places. For example, given test_list = [6, 7, 3, 9, 10, 15], the function should return 13.89.

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

• How would you find the median of a list where more than 50% of the elements are the same, 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. For example, for li = [1, 2, 2], the function should return 2.

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score data layouts, and how would you reformat them for better analysis? You have student test score data in two different layouts. Identify the drawbacks of these layouts, suggest formatting changes to make the data more useful for analysis, and describe common problems seen 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, and how would you assess its performance before and after deployment?

• How does random forest generate the forest and why use it over logistic regression? Explain the process by which a random forest generates its ensemble of trees. Additionally, discuss why one 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. Describe scenarios where you would prefer a bagging algorithm over a boosting algorithm, and discuss the tradeoffs between the two.

• How would you justify using a neural network for a business problem and explain its predictions to non-technical stakeholders? Your manager asks you to build a neural network model 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? You are tasked with building a spam classifier for emails and have completed a V1 of the model. What metrics would you use to evaluate the model's accuracy and validity?

What is the average salary for a Software Engineer at Bentley Systems?

Q: What is the primary focus of the Software Engineer position at Bentley Systems?

The position focuses on building next-generation infrastructure engineering applications using the iTwin Platform. You'll work with advanced technologies such as AI/ML, IoT, and Reality Data, contributing to the digital twin ecosystem.

Q: What are the key responsibilities for a Software Engineer at Bentley Systems?

Key responsibilities include writing well-documented and maintainable code, participating in code reviews, engaging in discovery and experimentation, continuous learning and adaptation, and working in an agile software development environment.

Q: What qualifications and skills are required to apply for a Software Engineer position at Bentley Systems?

Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree in computer science or software engineering, at least 2+ years of experience as a Software Developer, and knowledge in modern application architecture, API design, object-oriented programming, and working with Git. Proficiency in web security and ability to learn new technologies quickly are also essential.

Q: What is the company culture at Bentley Systems like?

Bentley Systems offers a challenging, friendly, and supportive environment. The company values continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration with a focus on developing world-leading software solutions for infrastructure engineering. They provide robust support for career growth within an international team.

Q: How can I prepare for an interview at Bentley Systems?

To prepare for an interview at Bentley Systems, research the company and its products, review the listed qualifications and responsibilities for the role, and practice common interview questions using resources available from Interview Query.

Embark on an exciting journey with Bentley Systems, where innovation meets opportunity. As a Software Engineer, you will be at the forefront of revolutionizing infrastructure engineering applications, applying cutting-edge technologies and working with a global team of experts. With a commitment to continuous learning, constructive collaboration, and high-quality code, Bentley Systems offers a supportive and enriching environment to grow as a professional.

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Bentley Systems Interview Guide, where we have covered 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 Bentley Systems’ 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 Bentley Systems software engineer interview challenge.

Good luck with your interview!