Popular Bank is a prominent financial institution recognized for its robust commitment to modern banking solutions and customer-centric services. With a rich history and a forward-thinking approach, Popular Bank continuously strives to innovate and enhance its technological infrastructure.

In joining Popular Bank as a Software Engineer, you will be part of a dynamic team responsible for developing, maintaining, and improving software systems that drive the bank's operations. The role demands strong programming skills, problem-solving abilities, and a keen understanding of financial technologies. As a Software Engineer, you’ll work on various projects, from backend services to user-facing applications, ensuring secure and efficient banking experiences for customers.

Through this guide on Interview Query, we will walk you through the nuanced interview process, typical interview questions you may encounter, and provide strategic insights to help you prepare effectively for your journey at Popular Bank. Let's dive in!

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Popular Bank as a Software Engineer. Whether you were contacted by a 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 Popular Bank 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 Popular Bank Software Engineering 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 Popular Bank 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 Popular Bank’s systems, software development practices, and coding challenges.

In the case of software engineering roles, take-home assignments regarding specific coding problems, algorithms, and design patterns might be incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency against data structures, system design, and software architecture 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 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 Popular Bank office. Your technical prowess, including programming and system design capabilities, will be evaluated against the finalized candidates throughout these interviews.

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

Quick Tips For Popular Bank Software Engineer Interviews

• Should contain three tips for interviewing for this specific company based on interview experiences.

Example:

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 Popular Bank interview include:

• Understand Popular Bank’s Technical Stack: Popular Bank questions may rely heavily on their specific technologies and systems. Study the technologies used at Popular Bank and understand how you would approach problems using these tools.
• Be Business-Driven: Popular Bank’s technical interviews assess how well you can align your software engineering skills with business objectives. Brush up on your understanding of how technology drives business value within the financial industry.
• Demonstrate Team Collaboration: At its core, Popular Bank values collaboration and teamwork. Practice responding to behavioral questions with answers that highlight your experience in team projects and collaborative environments.

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

• What are the Z and t-tests, and when should you use each? Explain the purpose and differences between Z and t-tests. Describe scenarios where one test is preferred over the other.

• How would you reformat student test score data for better analysis? Given two datasets of student test scores, identify drawbacks in their current organization. Suggest formatting changes and discuss common issues in "messy" datasets.

• What metrics would you use to determine the value of each marketing channel? Given data on marketing channels and costs for a B2B analytics dashboard company, identify key metrics to evaluate the value of each channel.

• How would you determine the next partner card using customer spending data? With access to customer spending data, outline a method to identify the best partner for a new credit card offering.

• How would you investigate if a redesigned email campaign led to increased conversion rates? Analyze a scenario where a new email campaign coincides with an increase in conversion rates. Determine if the increase is due to the campaign or other factors.

• Write a function search_list to check if a target value is in a linked list. Write a function, search_list, that returns a boolean indicating if the target value is in the linked_list or not. You receive the head of the linked list, which is a dictionary with keys value and next. If the linked list is empty, you'll receive None.

• Write a query to find users who placed less than 3 orders or ordered less than $500 worth of product. Write a query to identify the names of users who placed less than 3 orders or ordered less than $500 worth of product. Use the transactions, users, and products tables.

• Create a function digit_accumulator to sum every digit in a string representing a floating-point number. You are given a string that represents some floating-point number. Write a function, digit_accumulator, that returns the sum of every digit in the string.

• Develop a function to parse the most frequent words used in poems. You're hired by a literary newspaper to parse the most frequent words used in poems. Poems are given as a list of strings called sentences. Return a dictionary of the frequency that words are used in the poem, processed as lowercase.

• Write a function rectangle_overlap to determine if two rectangles overlap. You are given two rectangles a and b each defined by four ordered pairs denoting their corners on the x, y plane. Write a function rectangle_overlap to determine whether or not they overlap. Return True if so, and False otherwise.

• How would you design a function to detect anomalies in univariate and bivariate datasets? If given a univariate dataset, how would you design a function to detect anomalies? What if the data is bivariate?

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score data layouts, and how would you reformat them for better analysis? Assume you have data on student test scores in two different layouts. Identify the drawbacks of these layouts, suggest formatting changes for better analysis, and describe common problems in "messy" datasets.

• What is the expected churn rate in March for customers who bought a subscription since January 1st? You noticed that 10% of customers who bought subscriptions in January 2020 canceled before February 1st. Assuming uniform new customer acquisition and a 20% month-over-month decrease in churn, calculate the expected churn rate in March for all customers who bought the product since January 1st.

• How would you explain a p-value to a non-technical person? Describe what a p-value is in simple terms for someone who is not familiar with technical or statistical concepts.

• What are Z and t-tests, and when should you use each? Explain what Z and t-tests are, their uses, the differences between them, and when to use one over the other.

• 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.

• When would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm? Compare two machine learning algorithms and provide examples of tradeoffs between using a bagging algorithm and a boosting algorithm.

• How would you evaluate and compare two credit risk models for personal loans?

• Identify the type of model developed by a co-worker for loan approval.
• Explain how to measure the difference between two credit risk models over a timeframe.

• List the metrics to track for measuring the success of the new model.

• What’s the difference between Lasso and Ridge Regression? Describe the key differences between Lasso and Ridge Regression.

• What are the key differences between classification models and regression models? Explain the main differences between classification models and regression models.

What is the average salary for a Software Engineer at Popular Bank?

Q: What is the interview process at Popular Bank for a Software Engineer position?

A: The interview process at Popular Bank typically involves multiple stages, including an initial phone screen, one or more technical interviews, and sometimes an onsite interview. These stages are designed to assess your technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit within the company.

Q: What should I expect in the technical interviews?

A: In the technical interviews, you can expect a mix of coding challenges, algorithm questions, and system design problems. The questions often test your knowledge in data structures, algorithms, and your ability to write clean, efficient code. You may also be asked about your past projects and your experience with different technologies.

Q: What skills are required to succeed as a Software Engineer at Popular Bank?

A: To succeed as a Software Engineer at Popular Bank, you should have strong programming skills in languages such as Java, Python, or C++. Additionally, a good understanding of data structures, algorithms, software design principles, and experience with cloud platforms can be beneficial. Problem-solving skills and the ability to work well in a team are also crucial.

Q: What is the company culture like at Popular Bank?

A: Popular Bank has a collaborative and inclusive culture that encourages innovation and continuous learning. Employees are valued for their contributions and are given opportunities to grow in their careers. The company supports work-life balance and offers various benefits to ensure the well-being of its staff.

Q: How can I prepare for an interview at Popular Bank?

A: To prepare for an interview at Popular Bank, you should review the job description thoroughly and align your skills with the requirements. Practice coding problems and technical questions on Interview Query, and brush up on your fundamentals in data structures and algorithms. Additionally, be ready to discuss your past experiences and how they relate to the position you are applying for.

Landing a Software Engineer position at Popular Bank can be a transformative career opportunity. If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Popular Bank 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 Popular Bank’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 Popular Bank 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!