Real, anonymous reports from people who interviewed for Software Engineer at Citizens, newest first and distilled into what to expect across the loop.
I came into the process with low stress because the interview felt pretty manageable. The screen I faced emphasized fundamentals—things like strings and arrays style questions—and it didn’t feel like they were looking for tricky edge cases. Overall it was framed in a way that made it seem like preparation for typical coding patterns would carry a lot of weight.
My interview experience was the opposite of what I expected. The format relied heavily on an AI element, and the session ran extremely short—under fifteen minutes—yet it felt disjointed and unhelpful. The questions didn’t connect to anything that was conveyed beforehand, and there were glitches with the AI voice that made it harder to follow what was being asked.
The interview process typically begins with a recorded HireVue assessment, followed by a HackerRank coding challenge that serves as a critical gatekeeper for advancing to live interviews focused on team fit and technical experience.
Candidates can expect coding challenges that emphasize fundamental programming concepts, such as strings and arrays, with a focus on straightforward questions rather than tricky edge cases.
Behavioral interviews often involve repetitive questioning, where candidates are asked to provide consistent responses across various scenarios, emphasizing clarity and adaptability in their answers.
Some candidates reported a frustrating experience with AI-driven interviews that felt disjointed and lacked clarity, impacting their ability to effectively communicate their thought processes.
Candidates noted a lack of clarity and slow communication following interviews, with extended waiting periods and automated messages that contributed to uncertainty about their application status.
While many candidates found the interview process manageable, they emphasized the importance of preparation for both technical and behavioral aspects, as well as the need to adapt responses in a recorded format.