Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 80 years. Operating over 18,000 stores in 47 states, Dollar General offers everyday low prices on frequently used items, creating convenient shopping experiences across the country.

As a Software Engineer at Dollar General, you’ll play a crucial role in developing, debugging, and maintaining software applications. The position involves designing changes to both new and existing applications, executing test plans, and providing 24/7 support for production applications. A successful candidate will thrive in Agile environments, demonstrate strong analytical skills, and mentor junior team members. Key qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field, experience with relational and non-relational databases, cloud solutions, and a higher-level programming language.

In this guide, Interview Query provides an in-depth overview of the interview process, typical questions, and valuable preparation tips to help you navigate the path to becoming a Software Engineer at Dollar General.

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Dollar General as a Software Engineer. Whether you were contacted by a Dollar General 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 Dollar General 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 Dollar General Software Engineer 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 Dollar General 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 application development, debugging software, system designs, and Agile methodologies.

In addition to these, your proficiency in cloud solutions, ETL/ELT pipelines, REST API experience, and relational and non-relational databases will likely be assessed. Depending on the seniority of the position, case studies and similar real-scenario problems may also be assigned.

Onsite Interview Rounds

Followed by a second recruiter call outlining the next stage, you’ll be invited to attend the onsite interview loop. Multiple interview rounds, varying with the role, will be conducted during your day at the Dollar General office. Your technical prowess, including software development and debugging capabilities, will be evaluated against the finalized candidates throughout these interviews.

A presentation round may also await you during the onsite interview for the Software Engineer role at Dollar General if take-home exercises were assigned.

Quick Tips For Dollar General Software Engineer Interviews

You should plan to brush up on any technical skills and try as many practice interview questions and mock interviews as possible. A few tips for acing your Dollar General interview include:

• Demonstrate Core Abilities: Focus on showcasing your knowledge around Agile methodologies, cloud solutions, ETL/ELT pipelines, and unit test integration in development tasks.
• Effective Communication: Prepare to effectively communicate complex technical information in a simple manner, especially when dealing with both technical and business team members.
• Collaboration and Leadership: Highlight your experience in collaborative environments, mentoring junior team members, and leading initiatives composed of distributed teams.

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

• Create a function recurring_char to find the first recurring character in a string. Given a string, write a function recurring_char to find its first recurring character. Return None if there is no recurring character. Treat upper and lower case letters as distinct characters. Assume the input string includes no spaces.

• Write a query to get the average order value by gender. Given three tables representing customer transactions and customer attributes, write a query to get the average order value by gender. Round your answer to two decimal places.

• Identify first-time and repeat purchases by product category. Analyze a user's purchases to identify which purchases represent the first time the user has bought a product from its category and which represent repeat purchases. Output a table including every purchase with a boolean column indicating if it’s a repeat purchase.

• Parse the most frequent words used in poems. Given a list of strings called sentences, return a dictionary of the frequency that words are used in the poem. Process all words as lowercase and ignore punctuation marks.

• 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, select the next highest salary.

• What would you do if friend requests are down 10% on Facebook? A product manager at Facebook informs you that friend requests have decreased by 10%. How would you approach investigating and addressing this issue?

• How would you set up an A/B test for changes in a sign-up funnel? A team wants to A/B test various changes in a sign-up funnel, such as changing a button's color from red to blue and/or its position from the top to the bottom of the page. How would you design this test?

• What metrics would you use to determine the value of each marketing channel? Given all the different marketing channels and their respective costs at a company called Mode, which sells B2B analytics dashboards, what metrics would you use to evaluate the value of each channel?

• How would you measure the success of a banner ad strategy for an online media company? An online media company wants to experiment with adding web banners into the middle of its reading content to monetize effectively. How would you measure the success of this banner ad strategy?

• How would you investigate a drop in Facebook posts per user? The posting tool on Facebook composer drops from 3% posts per user last month to 2.5% posts per user today. How would you investigate this decline? If the drop is specifically in photo posts, what additional steps would you take to investigate?

• How would you interpret coefficients of logistic regression for categorical and boolean variables? Explain how to interpret the coefficients of logistic regression when dealing with categorical and boolean variables.

• What is the difference between covariance and correlation? Provide an example. Describe the difference between covariance and correlation, and provide an example to illustrate the distinction.

• What are time series models? Why do we need them when we have less complicated regression models? Explain what time series models are and why they are necessary despite the availability of simpler regression models.

• How would you determine if the difference between this month and the previous month in a time series dataset is significant? Given a time series dataset grouped monthly for the past five years, describe how you would assess the significance of the difference between this month and the previous month.

• How would you address a manager's complaint about a packet filling machine not functioning correctly? A manager reports that a machine designed to fill boxes with 25 packets is malfunctioning, resulting in incorrect packet counts. Describe how you would investigate and resolve this issue.

• How does random forest generate the forest and why use it over logistic regression? Explain the process of generating a forest in random forest and discuss the advantages of using random forest over logistic regression.

• How would you justify using a neural network model and explain its predictions to non-technical stakeholders? Describe how you would justify the complexity of a neural network model for solving a business problem and how you would explain its predictions to non-technical stakeholders.

• How would you interpret coefficients of logistic regression for categorical and boolean variables? Explain the interpretation of logistic regression coefficients when dealing with categorical and boolean variables.

• Which model would perform better for predicting Airbnb booking prices: linear regression or random forest regression? Compare the performance of linear regression and random forest regression for predicting booking prices on Airbnb and justify which model would perform better.

• What are the assumptions of linear regression? List and explain the key assumptions that must be met for linear regression to be valid.

What is the average salary for a Software Engineer at Dollar General?

FAQ - Dollar General Software Engineer Position

Q: What are the primary responsibilities of a Software Engineer at Dollar General?
A: As a Software Engineer, you will be responsible for developing and debugging software, designing changes to new and existing applications, providing 24/7 production support, and participating in Agile methodology and ceremonies. You will also need to document test plans, conduct code reviews, and mentor junior team members.

Q: What skills and abilities are required for the job?
A: You need to be a self-starter, adapt easily to change, and promote a collaborative environment. Strong analytical skills, effective communication, and the ability to deliver high-quality, testable code are essential. Familiarity with agile methodologies, test-driven development, and business concepts is also crucial.

Q: What kind of experience and education are required for this role?
A: The role requires at least 5 years of software development experience, with knowledge in A/B testing, relational databases, and cloud solutions. A bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, and experience with higher-level programming languages like Java or C#, are also required.

Q: What distinguishes a Senior Software Engineer from other engineering roles at Dollar General?
A: A Senior Software Engineer at Dollar General translates high-level business requirements into technical designs, leads small development engagements, mentors junior engineers, and solves complex technical problems. They have a deep understanding of both the applications in their area and the overarching business objectives.

Q: How can I prepare for an interview at Dollar General?
A: To prepare for an interview, familiarize yourself with the company's goals and the specific requirements of the role. Practice relevant technical skills and problem-solving scenarios using Interview Query to identify and improve your areas of weakness. Be prepared to discuss your experience and how it aligns with the job requirements.

Dollar General offers a dynamic and collaborative environment for software engineers who are passionate about developing high-quality applications and driving technological innovation. If you aspire to grow and lead in your career, consider exploring this exciting opportunity. Ready to prepare for your interview? Check out our comprehensive Dollar General Interview Guide on Interview Query, where we cover frequently asked questions and provide strategic insights to ace your interview. Join us at Interview Query to unlock your full potential and conquer every interview challenge at Dollar General.

Good luck with your interview!