General Motors (GM) Sr. Software Engineer interview questions

There was an initial phone screen, standard. I was then sent an online assessment that was part logic test and part personality test. There was then an on-site interview. GM seems to have a standard company-wide format that they use for their interviews. This means that, as said in other reviews, there are two interviewers essentially reading from a list of behavioral questions for an hour each. A couple of the questions even sounded like they were designed with factory workers in mind, but I was able to work in an appropriate response related to software development. I knew going in that recalling minor incidents from the past several years on the spot is a weakness of mine, so what I did was make flash cards with every possible behavioral question I could find, thought of as many stories as I could for each one and studied the flash cards for a couple weeks (was useful for other companies as well). This worked very well and I recommend it if you're at all like me. There were some technical questions with the remaining time which were all language-specific, ranging from very basic to more trivia type questions. Most developers who just recently learned Java and OOP should be able to answer all these questions, so they did nothing to differentiate between a junior position and the senior-level position. Overall, my take was that GM is a very traditional auto company and their interview process is no exception. I felt that the interviewers' hands were tied by the format and they end up having to extrapolate a lot from limited information, especially regarding technical ability (as opposed to just knowledge).

GM uses the Lominger process for interviews. If you don't know what that is, then google it. Basically they ask questions about what you would do in certain situations. It was not a technical interview. First step is someone will call for a phone interview. This is a HR person who is looking for keywords that match the job description. They don't have a technical background so if you use the correct buzz words you are good for the next step. The second step is an onsite interview. This interview follows the Lominger process. They ask you questions like "give us an example of what you did when you disagreed with your boss?". My interview lasted for 4 hours. After that you have to wait. GM requires that 3 interviews are performed for each position so it may take a while before you hear back.