Last year, I interviewed for the BBG Intern position and made it to the final round, but the experience was tough and I ultimately didn't get the offer. This year, applying for the 26 NG SWE role was much smoother. The entire process was on-campus and very fast-paced.
The interview style this year was completely different from last year. Previously, coding rounds were just two pure LeetCode problems. This year, each round had only one problem, but each included OOP, design, and algorithm components, with multiple follow-ups. Overall, the difficulty felt higher. The EM round, however, was still great—mostly discussing my resume and projects. Bloomberg’s EM interviews have a really positive vibe.
Bloomberg Timeline
- 10/4: Applied for Bloomberg 26 NG SWE
- 12/24: Phone interview invitation
- 1/6: Phone interview
- 1/20: VO invitation
- 1/30: VO
- 2/5: EM interview
- 3/3: Offer call
Coding 1: Crash Process Root Cause
Given a set of crashed processes (including each process's children), find the process ID with no crashed parent (the root cause of the crash propagation).
Solution Approach
Put all crashed process IDs into crashedSet and all children of crashed processes into childSet. The root cause is then crashedSet - childSet. Simple idea, but careful handling of input formats and empty sets is necessary.
Coding 2: Wordle Scoring Implementation
Implement Wordle scoring: given a target word and a guess word, return a score string like "-+-*–".
- Correct letter and position → "*"
- Letter exists but wrong position → "+"
- Letter not in target → "-"
Solution Approach
Use a two-pass approach with frequency counting. First pass for exact matches ("*") and reduce the frequency count. Second pass for partial matches ("+"), ensuring repeated letters are handled correctly with the frequency table.
HR & EM Interview
The HR round mainly covers self-introduction, knowledge about BBG, and typical behavioral questions. It's best to answer from the perspective of company values. EM rounds focus more on technical depth and business impact. Highlight how your projects contributed to the business.
Tips:
- Communicate clearly; avoid unnecessary repetition.
- Familiarize yourself with BBG culture and the job description in advance.
- When discussing projects in the EM round, emphasize technical decisions and business impact.
Final Thoughts
This year, Bloomberg's interview pace and focus points differed significantly from last year. It's important to practice design-oriented coding questions in preparation. During my preparation, I realized that having access to the right information is crucial. Through a friend’s recommendation, I learned about Interview Aid, which provided guidance on Bloomberg-style questions and interview prep, helping me prepare with confidence.
If you are preparing for Bloomberg 26 NG or other fintech company interviews, you can check out Interview Aid. They specialize in OA and VO support for North American tech roles. Wishing everyone success in landing your dream offer!
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