PrismHR is a dynamic SaaS company that specializes in providing cloud-based payroll processing software, alongside professional services such as system implementation consulting, custom configurations, and training. Our platform serves as a marketplace for human resources and employee benefits applications, fostering scalable business solutions for our clients.

As a Senior Software Engineer at PrismHR, you will play a crucial role in building robust, scalable, and maintainable services for our payroll, benefits, and HRIS platform. You'll be tasked with designing and implementing major components, migrating from monolithic to microservice architectures, and leveling up platform performance. This position provides ample opportunities for career growth within a collaborative and inclusive environment.

Excited to be part of a company that values diversity and innovation? This guide will help you navigate the interview process and prepare for your next big career move at PrismHR.

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining PrismHR as a Software Engineer. Whether you were contacted by a PrismHR 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 PrismHR 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 PrismHR 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 PrismHR 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 PrismHR’s data systems, ETL pipelines, and SQL queries.

In the case of data analyst roles, take-home assignments regarding product metrics, analytics, and data visualization are incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency against hypothesis testing, probability distributions, and machine learning fundamentals 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 PrismHR office. Your technical prowess, including programming and ML modeling 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 PrismHR.

Quick Tips For PrismHR 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 PrismHR interview include:

• Know the Technologies: PrismHR uses a diverse set of tools and languages such as C#, Go, Ruby, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, Istio, Spinnaker, React, and GraphQL. Have a good understanding of these technologies and be ready to discuss your experience with them.
• Be API-Savvy: Given the emphasis on API-driven architecture, be prepared to discuss your experience with designing and developing APIs, as well as your knowledge of API best practices.
• Demonstrate Collaboration and Mentorship Skills: PrismHR places value on collaborative environments and mentorship. Be prepared to discuss your past experiences working cross-functionally and mentoring junior engineers.

Typically, interviews at Prismhr 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: What's 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. You are given a target value to search. If the value is in the array, then return its index; otherwise, return -1. Bonus: Your algorithm's runtime complexity should be in the order of (O(\log n)).

• Would you suspect anything unusual 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. Would you consider this result suspicious?

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

• Why might job applications 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 issues 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 outputs the sample variance given a list of integers. Round the result to 2 decimal places. Example: Input: test_list = [6, 7, 3, 9, 10, 15] 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 list of sorted integers where more than 50% of the list is the same repeating integer, write a function to return the median value in (O(1)) computational time and space. Example: Input: li = [1,2,2] Output: median(li) -> 2

• What are the drawbacks and formatting changes needed for messy datasets? You have data on student test scores 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. Example datasets:

• How would you evaluate the suitability and performance of a decision tree model for predicting loan repayment? You are tasked with building a decision tree model to predict if a borrower will repay a personal loan. How would you evaluate whether a decision tree is the correct model for this problem? If you proceed with the decision tree, how would you evaluate 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 forest. Additionally, discuss why one might choose random forest over other algorithms such as logistic regression.

• 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 model 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 model? 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 accuracy and validity of the model?

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

Q: What does PrismHR do? PrismHR is a fast-paced SaaS company that provides customers with cloud-based payroll processing software applications. We also offer professional services, including system implementation consulting, custom configurations, and training.

Q: What technologies will I get to work with as a Senior Software Engineer at PrismHR? As a Senior Software Engineer, you will work with a diverse set of tools and languages like C#, Go, Ruby, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, Istio, Spinnaker, React, and SPA's. We are also investing in an API-driven architecture and GraphQL, powered by gRPC-based services.

Q: What kind of work environment does PrismHR offer? We are a proud work-from-office company and if you're ready to work on-site in a dynamic, global environment, PrismHR is the place for you. Our work culture emphasizes an inclusive environment where everyone is valued, providing ample opportunities to grow and accelerate your career.

Q: What responsibilities will I have as a Senior Software Engineer at PrismHR? You will be responsible for the design and implementation of major features and components of the Namely platform. Key responsibilities include implementing and maintaining containerized services, designing APIs, migrating from monolithic to microservice architecture, mentoring junior engineers, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to enhance product features.

Q: Does PrismHR support diversity and inclusion? Absolutely! At PrismHR, we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment that celebrates the diversity of our employees and encourages a sense of belonging for everyone. We actively encourage applications from traditionally under-represented groups to ensure diversity within our workforce and provide fair opportunities for all.

Ready to pave the way for innovation in HR technology? At PrismHR, you'll be at the forefront of transforming the payroll, benefits, and HRIS landscape, working alongside a talented and diverse team. Our commitment to excellence and inclusive culture empowers our employees to reach their fullest potential.

If you aspire to be part of a dynamic environment where you can grow, mentor others, and lead technological advancements, then PrismHR is the place for you. Dive deeper into our roles and get a leg up on your interview preparation by visiting the PrismHR Interview Guide.

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Good luck with your interview!