Factset Software Engineer interview typically runs 3 rounds: recruiter screen, technical rounds, and a behavioral/managerial round. It usually takes a few weeks and is notably structured and technical, with a strong emphasis on coding and system design.
$112K
Avg. Base Comp
$159K
Avg. Total Comp
4-6
Typical Rounds
2-4 weeks
Process Length
We’ve seen FactSet consistently reward candidates who can move from implementation to architecture without losing precision. Multiple candidates reported that the company likes practical, time-boxed coding first, then quickly escalates into design discussions that probe whether you understand the system beyond the happy path. That shows up in questions like Ticketmaster, Kafka-like services, and messenger or poker schema design, where the real test is not naming components but explaining consistency, lookup strategy, and how the pieces behave under load.
A recurring theme is that the bar is less about exotic algorithms and more about clean fundamentals applied well. Our candidates report easy-to-medium DSA, stacks and queues, sorting, two pointers, and basic data structure tradeoffs, alongside Python-adjacent work like pandas and PySpark. The non-obvious separator is how clearly you can justify your choices when the prompt is underspecified or intentionally open-ended. One candidate noted having to infer requirements from discussion, and another was pushed on quick lookup techniques and subsystem boundaries; that tells us FactSet is watching for structured reasoning under ambiguity, not just correct code.
We also see a strong preference for candidates who can connect technical decisions to real work experience. Resume-driven follow-ups, project walkthroughs, and questions about handling deadlines or team dynamics appear often, but they’re not casual filler — they’re used to check whether your technical judgment is grounded in actual delivery. In short, FactSet seems to value engineers who are steady, explicit, and comfortable defending tradeoffs when the problem stops being a textbook exercise.
Synthetized from 4 candidates reports by our editorial team.
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Featured question at Factset
Given an integer N, write a function that returns all of the prime numbers up to N
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Find the Missing Number | |
| Rectangle Overlap | |
| String Subsequence | |
| Nearest Common Ancestor | |
| Groups of Anagrams | |
| Radix Addition | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Find Duplicate Numbers in a List | |
| Target Indices | |
| Dijkstra implementation | |
| Messenger Service Design | |
| Filling Supermarket Bag | |
| Implementing the Fibonacci Sequence in Three Different Methods | |
| Binary Tree Validation | |
| String Palindromes | |
| NxN Grid Traversal | |
| Data Stream Median | |
| Rearranging Digits | |
| Impossibly Iterative Fibonacci | |
| Triplet Counting | |
| LRU Cache 1 | |
| Singly Linked List | |
| Design Poker Schema | |
| Length Of Longest Palindrome | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Merge Sorted Lists |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
A recruiter phone screen kicks off the process and is mostly a resume and background check. Expect questions about your interests, experience, availability, and whether your background matches the role.
Some candidates start with a HackerRank-style assessment. It typically includes easy LeetCode-level coding, logic/DSA multiple-choice questions, and a programming problem involving topics like stacks, queues, or sorting.
The first live technical round is coding-heavy and often focuses on arrays, strings, sorting, or basic data structures. Candidates reported machine-coding style tasks, easy-to-medium DSA problems, and implementation questions where clean, correct code matters more than theory.
A second technical round goes deeper into problem solving and core CS fundamentals. Interviewers may ask a mix of coding, OOP, DBMS-style fundamentals, and practical questions about how you approach optimization and explain your solution.
The final technical round often combines behavioral discussion with high-level design. Candidates were asked to design systems such as Ticketmaster or a Kafka-like service, including APIs, core entities, consistency, and tradeoffs around reliability and architecture.
The last stage is a managerial or HR-style conversation. It is usually resume-driven and covers teamwork, conflict handling, learning new technologies, and practical logistics such as relocation or shift availability before a final decision is made.