Ace Your Bloomberg L.P. Software Engineer Interview: The Ultimate Guide

Getting an interview at Bloomberg L.P is no easy feat As one of the world’s largest and most prestigious financial data and media companies, Bloomberg only hires the best of the best. So if you’ve landed an interview for a software engineering role, congratulations – you’ve already passed a rigorous screening process.

But now comes the real test proving to Bloomberg’s technical interviewers that you have what it takes to thrive as part of their elite engineering team.

As someone who has been interviewed by Bloomberg before, I know exactly what kinds of questions they’ll ask and how they’ll judge you. In this detailed guide, I’ll give you insider tips on how to do well on your Bloomberg software engineering interview.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• An overview of Bloomberg’s software engineer interview process
• Sample Bloomberg coding interview questions (and how to tackle them)
• Must-know system design concepts for your Bloomberg system design interview
• Strategies for handling Bloomberg behavioral interview questions
• My top tips for prepping for your Bloomberg interview

Let’s get started!

The Bloomberg Software Engineer Interview Process

Bloomberg’s software engineering interview process typically follows this structure:

1. The first thing a recruiter will do is call you and talk about your resume, qualifications, salary expectations, and interest in working for Bloomberg.

2. Technical Phone Interview: 1-2 coding problems testing data structures, algorithms, and object oriented design.

3. On-site Interview: 4-5 rounds including coding, system design, behavioral, and management interviews.

The on-site rounds will be highly technical. You can expect complex coding and system design questions on par with those at top tech companies, even for senior roles.

Be ready to write actual code on paper or a whiteboard without an IDE. Many questions will involve analyzing and manipulating complex data structures like trees, graphs, and linked lists.

Let’s look at some sample questions.

Bloomberg Software Engineer Coding Interview Questions

Here are some common coding interview questions asked at Bloomberg:

• Array Manipulation: Given a sorted array that has been rotated an unknown number of times, write a function to find if a given element exists in the array.

• Tree Traversal: Write a function to find the lowest common ancestor of two nodes in a binary search tree.

• Dynamic Programming: Given a set of coin denominations and a target value, determine the minimum number of coins needed to make the target value.

• String Manipulation: Reverse the order of words in a given sentence keeping the position of special characters intact.

• Linked Lists: Write a function to delete a given node from a singly linked list in O(1) time.

• Recursion: Calculate the Nth Fibonacci number using recursion.

• Object-Oriented Design: Design an ATM software system with classes for Customer, Account, and Transactions.

To tackle these types of questions:

• Clarify the problem and test edge cases upfront.
• Think through the optimal data structures to use.Arrays vs hash tables, trees vs linked lists.
• Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use well-known algorithms when applicable.
• Walk through your code logic and test cases.
• Use Object-Oriented principles like encapsulation and inheritance where appropriate.

Spend time grinding leetcode style coding problems. Bloomberg asks many questions seen at top tech companies.

Next, let’s look at system design.

Bloomberg Software Engineer System Design Interview

As a Bloomberg engineer, you’ll build large-scale distributed systems to power their data and analytics platforms.

Expect open-ended system design questions like:

• Design a stock trading system like the Bloomberg Terminal.
• Design an API rate limiting system.
• Design a caching system for a large distributed database.

Some key things interviewers look for:

• Requirements Gathering: Ask clarifying questions upfront. Define scale and performance needs.

• High Level Design: Outline core components and high level design. Use architecture diagrams.

• Detailed Design: Dig into specifics like request flow, database schema, APIs, caching strategy etc.

• Tradeoffs: Discuss alternatives and tradeoffs. There’s no one right answer.

Brush up on system design topics like:

• Horizontal vs vertical scaling
• Load balancing
• Database sharding
• CAP theorem
• Caching strategies
• Microservices vs monoliths
• Async vs sync communication

For more complex questions, start with a high-level design and dig deeper as the interviewer prompts you.

Bloomberg Behavioral & Leadership Interview Questions

Expect several behavioral and leadership focused interview rounds, especially for senior roles.

Some common questions include:

• Tell me about a time you faced a challenging technical issue. How did you approach debugging and resolving it?
• Describe a project or product you worked on that you are most proud of. Why?
• Tell me about a time you had a disagreement with a team member. How did you handle it?
• What is your leadership style? How do you motivate your team?
• Why do you want to work at Bloomberg specifically?

Tips for handling behavioral questions:

• Use the STAR method – give a Specific example, describe the Task, outline your Action, and the Result.
• Focus on examples that highlight problem-solving, technical leadership, and communication skills.
• Have a story ready about dealing with tight deadlines or resolving conflicts.
• Convey your excitement about Bloomberg’s products, culture, and technical challenges.

5 Tips to Crack the Bloomberg Software Engineering Interview

Here are my top tips for preparing for your Bloomberg interview:

1. Practice coding under time pressure. Get comfortable thinking through complex algorithms on a whiteboard while explaining your approach.

2. Master data structures and algorithms. Review tree, graph, string, array, linked list, and recursion problems. Know time and space complexities.

3. Study system design frameworks. Use resources like Grokking the System Design Interview to learn system design principles.

4. Prepare stories to answer behavioral questions. Reflect on your past technical challenges and projects. Retell stories using the STAR method.

5. Understand Bloomberg’s business and products. Research Bloomberg Terminal, data APIs, and other offerings so you can speak intelligently about how you can contribute.

Acing the Bloomberg interview takes rigorous preparation. But with concentrated practice on coding, system design, and behavioral skills, you can prove you have what it takes to join this elite team of engineers.

You’ve got this! Now get out there and crush your Bloomberg interview.