Real, anonymous reports from people who interviewed for Software Engineer at Target, newest first and distilled into what to expect across the loop.
I don’t have enough detail from this set to reconstruct the full interview loop for the Software Engineer role at Target. What I do know is that my background ended up being discussed alongside my history and timeline, and the process included design thinking—specifically I was asked to design a service with the guidance context of a lead engineer having around two decades of experience.
After a recruiter call, I ended up doing a pretty extended sequence of technical rounds. A little over a week later I had a manager-led technical screen, and then I kept going through multiple tech screens before reaching a pair-programming session. The coding part didn’t feel wildly complex overall, but it was still enough work to keep me focused for hours across different calls.
The interview process typically begins with an online assessment followed by multiple technical rounds, including coding, design, and behavioral interviews, often structured in a compressed timeline or back-to-back format. Candidates should be prepared for a mix of formats and a potentially fast-paced schedule.
Candidates can expect a variety of technical assessments, including online coding assignments that focus on specific algorithms and data structures, as well as hands-on coding sessions like pair programming, where debugging and explaining thought processes are crucial.
Design discussions are a significant part of the interview, often focusing on service design and low-level design, where candidates must articulate their approach to building systems and handling data flow between services.
Behavioral interviews are included to assess cultural fit, but candidates may encounter shifts in focus during these rounds, which can lead to confusion about expectations. It's important to be prepared for both behavioral and technical questions.
The overall difficulty of the interviews is generally medium, but candidates report feeling challenged by specific technical questions and the lack of clarity in some rounds, which can affect performance and lead to unexpected outcomes.
Candidates often reflect on the importance of clarifying expectations during interviews and suggest that they could have better prepared for the specific technical topics discussed, especially when faced with unexpected shifts in conversation focus.