Real, anonymous reports from people who interviewed for Software Engineer at EXL Service, newest first and distilled into what to expect across the loop.
My interview experience was almost an hour long and felt fully technical throughout. The discussion was centered on Power BI and the full set of pieces around it: Power Query, pivoting/reshaping data, and the way Power BI Service fits with the overall setup. We also went into external integrations and tooling, plus how I’d think about Fabric ETL pipelines, covering the usual topics like CI/CD, row-level security, and incremental refresh patterns.
My process followed a pretty straightforward multi-round path. After a recruiter stage, I ended up going through four rounds total. The first two were technical interviews with the EXL team, where the focus stayed on assessing my technical fit.
The interview process typically consists of multiple rounds, often starting with a recruiter call followed by two technical interviews and concluding with an HR discussion. Candidates noted a structured approach with increasing complexity and client involvement in later rounds.
Technical interviews cover a range of topics including Power BI, Python coding, SQL, and system design, with a significant emphasis on practical problem-solving and reasoning rather than rote knowledge. Candidates should be prepared for both specific technologies and broader engineering principles.
Some candidates experienced managerial discussions that focused on future role responsibilities and alignment with company culture, indicating that behavioral aspects are also evaluated alongside technical skills. This suggests a need for candidates to articulate their career vision and fit within the team.
The overall difficulty of interviews varies, with many candidates describing the technical rounds as medium, while some found specific rounds to be challenging due to the depth of questions. Candidates reported mixed feelings about the professionalism and clarity of the interview process.
Candidates should prepare for specific technologies relevant to the role, such as Salesforce, cloud architecture, and data pipelines, as interviews often dive deep into these areas. Familiarity with the latest updates in relevant tech stacks is also beneficial.
Several candidates noted mismatches between expected topics and actual interview questions, indicating that preparation should include a broad understanding of related technologies. Reflecting on their experiences, candidates wished they had clarified expectations beforehand to avoid confusion.
