One of the most interesting fintech companies out there is Affirm, which offers new ways to pay at the register. With its fast growth and strong funding, Affirm is a company that top tech talent wants to work for. However, with popularity comes competition – Affirm’s interview process is thorough and rigorous.
With this complete guide, you’ll have all the information you need to ace Affirm’s interview. We’ll go over the steps one by one, break down the different types of interviews, look at some common questions, and give you advice on how to do your best. Let’s get started!.
Overview of Affirm’s Interview Process
Affirm’s interview process typically comprises three rounds
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30 minutes with a recruiter, who will look over your resume, experience, and interest in the job. Be prepared to discuss your background, accomplishments, and reasons for choosing Affirm.
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Technical Screening (60 mins) – This round involves coding challenges testing your problem-solving skills. Expect algorithm and data structure questions of medium difficulty.
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Onsite Interviews (4 hours) – The onsite round consists of four 60-minute interviews evaluating your technical proficiency, system design ability, and cultural fit through coding, system design, and behavioral questions.
The entire process from screening to offer takes about 2 weeks. Affirm provides flexibility to schedule interviews in one or two days. Overall their process balances efficiency with rigor to thoroughly assess candidates.
Types of Interview Questions at Affirm
Now let’s explore the key interview formats and the types of questions to expect in each:
Coding Interview Questions
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Focus – Evaluates your programming skills and problem-solving approach.
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Format – 60 minutes of coding 2-3 algorithm or data structure problems on HackerRank.
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Example Questions – Two Sum, Reverse Linked List, Binary Tree Traversal, etc. Medium difficulty LeetCode-style coding questions.
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Tips – Practice algorithms and data structures. Communicate your thought process clearly. Test your code thoroughly.
System Design Interview Questions
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Focus – Tests your ability to design large-scale systems and consider tradeoffs.
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Format – 60 minutes of open-ended system design discussion.
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Example Questions – Design tuition payments system, distributed lock system, ride-hailing platform.
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Tips – Demonstrate scalability, reliability, and security considerations. Balance breadth with depth.
Behavioral Interview Questions
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Focus – Assesses your soft skills, leadership, and culture fit.
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Format – 45 minutes of open-ended behavioral questions with the hiring manager.
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Example Questions – Tell me about a challenging project. Discuss a time you failed. Why Affirm?
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Tips – Provide structured responses using the STAR method. Align your values with Affirm’s principles.
Mastering the Recruiter Screening Interview
Let’s look at some tips to ace the recruiter screening call:
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Research the role – Understand the day-to-day responsibilities, skills required, and team culture. This shows commitment.
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Highlight relevant experience – Pick 2-3 major accomplishments that align with the role. Quantify and focus on impact.
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Know your resume – Be ready to elaborate on any point. Brush up on key projects and technologies listed.
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Have questions ready – Ask thoughtful questions that show your understanding of the company and role.
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Control the salary talk – Deflect questions about salary expectations. Use phrases like “I’d need to understand the role better first…”
Rocking the Technical Screening Interview
Next up is the critical technical screening round. Here are some tips:
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Practice extensively – Work through algorithm questions on LeetCode across difficulty levels. Review data structures.
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Communicate clearly – Describe your approach, logic and code verbally. Good communication is key.
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Write clean code – Modularize, use descriptive names and comment appropriately. Bad code can tank an otherwise good solution.
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Test thoroughly – Walk through examples to validate your code. Edge cases often trip candidates up.
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Talk through bugs – If you hit a bug, explain likely causes and how you’d resolve it. Debugging skill matters.
Acing the Onsite Interview Rounds
Finally, let’s look at some strategies for onsite success:
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Rest up – Get a good night’s sleep beforehand and eat a healthy meal. This is a marathon, not a sprint!
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Review common questions – Refamiliarize yourself with frequently asked coding, system design and behavioral questions.
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Research the team – Understand the specific team’s goals, tech stack, and recent projects. Helps answering HR questions.
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Ask smart questions – Have thoughtful questions ready for each interviewer tailored to their team or expertise.
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Be personable – Smile, make eye contact, and establish a connection. Technical skills get you to onsite, but personality seals the deal.
Sample Behavioral Questions and Answers
Let’s look at some sample behavioral questions and high-scoring sample responses:
Q: Tell me about a challenging project or task you faced. How did you handle it?
A: As the tech lead on Project X, we faced repeated scope creep from the client that jeopardized deadlines. I mitigated this by proactively identifying risks early through thorough requirements gathering. I also maintained open communication with both client and team to align on priorities and tradeoffs to deliver a quality product on schedule. This experience taught me the importance of stakeholder management.
Q: When have you failed and what did you learn from it?
A: Early in my career as a junior developer, I deployed a feature without adequate testing which led to a major bug affecting clients. I learned the hard way how small oversights can have big consequences. From then on, I instituted more rigorous test plans including edge case analysis, integration testing and staged rollouts. The lesson was to always err on the side of caution, especially in highly reliable systems.
Q: Why do you want to work at Affirm?
A: Affirm’s mission of providing transparent, responsible financial products resonates with my personal values. The company culture that emphasizes collaboration and innovation also aligns with my strengths. I am excited by the engineering challenges of the Machine Learning and Data Analytics groups Affirm is investing heavily in. The opportunity to make an impact by broadening access through ethical technology makes Affirm my top choice.
With meticulous preparation using insider tips like above, you’ll be equipped to have a stellar interview day at Affirm. Best of luck!
Types of Interview Questions to Expect at Affirm
Affirm’s coding questions are pretty straightforward and will be familiar to anyone practicing on LeetCode. You can commonly find them online. Still, their interviewers will try to make the questions their own. Expect some changes, but you should be fine if you can solve medium LeetCode problems.
Below are the technical topics you’re likely to encounter in Affirm interviews. To compile this list, we did two things. First, we spoke to some current and former Affirm engineers. Then we cross-referenced all the anecdotes we heard with Glassdoor data AND our own data-set of mock interviews:
This round won’t be a completely generic system design interview. It will usually relate to Affirm’s business. Expect questions about databases, multiple layers of schema, and functional design.
You might be asked to create a system that lets two people use their bank accounts to make transactions with each other, but it has to follow certain rules. g. , they can’t transfer more than what is in their account.
Timing is important here. You won’t have enough time to go into everything in detail. Try to hit the main points of everything, and then ask the interviewer which ones they’d like to hear more about.
Expect the standard behavioral questions here. Questions like:
- Did you ever feel stressed at work? If so, how did you deal with it?
- When did you last work with a great group? Could you explain why it was great?
- Have you ever received criticism from leadership at work?
This round is important as it is conducted by your potential manager. Even if you do well in the coding rounds, if you fail the behavioral interview, you will still not be chosen.
Step 2: Technical Phone Screen
Affirm’s technical phone screen lasts about an hour and is conducted in HackerRank.
That’s what we know about how they ask questions. Read on for “Types of Interview Questions to Expect at Affirm.”
You can do the onsite section in one day or over two days.
- Behavioral (45 mins). This is the hiring manager of the company you are interviewing with. To learn more about the types of questions that might be asked, read the section below called “Behavioral.”
- Coding (1 hour). This will be conducted in HackerRank. Read the Coding section below to learn more about the types of questions you can expect.
- Second coding (1 hour). As above.
- System design (1 hour). This will also be conducted in Hackerrank. Read the section below on System Design to learn more about the types of questions you can expect.
Conflicting Product Requirements: Product Manager Mock Interview (with Affirm PM)
FAQ
How hard is it to get a job at Affirm?
How long does it take to hear back from affirm after applying?
What is the interview process like at affirm?
I interviewed at Affirm The hiring process involves an initial HR call, followed by an interview with the hiring manager. This is followed by a portfolio review and application critique to assess candidates for the position. How do you handle accessibility in product design?
What should I know before interviewing at affirm?
When it’s time to interview, you’ll be able to demonstrate your interest in the role, thoughtfulness, and intellectual curiosity (a core trait at Affirm). There’s truly no downside for anyone. Company history You should have a general understanding of the company, such as company size and age, locations, business model, and CEO.
What was the interview process like at affirm (New York)?
I interviewed at Affirm (New York, NY) in Oct 2019 Phone screen with a recruiter, followed by 2 technical phone interviews, followed by an onsite with 3 technical interviews and a hiring manager interview. The technical problems were challenging but manageable and interesting, and engineers were supportive in answering questions I had.
What is the affirm hiring process?
The Affirm hiring process typically consists of multiple stages, including an initial call with a recruiter, followed by interviews with the hiring manager and other team members. Candidates may also be asked to complete a technical or case study assignment.
