Target software engineer interviews reported here range from recruiter-led screens and fit conversations to Spring Boot assignments, Java concurrency discussion, and live debugging with tests.
$148K
Avg. Base Comp
$185K
Avg. Total Comp
3-6 rounds
Typical Rounds
2-4 weeks
Process Length
Target software engineer candidates should prepare for a process that can vary substantially by team. One candidate described a recruiter screen, a technical assessment, and a conversation focused largely on motivation, communication, problem solving, teamwork, salary expectations, and availability. Another described a more engineering-specific sequence: recruiter call, Spring Boot coding assignment, hiring-manager discussion of Java concurrency and prior projects, then a Zoom pair-programming exercise involving buggy code and test writing.
The most concrete technical preparation is practical Java and debugging work. Be able to explain a Spring Boot project you have built, including tradeoffs around threading or concurrency, rather than relying only on algorithm drills. Practice reading an unfamiliar codebase, isolating a defect, and writing focused test cases under time pressure. That candidate also encountered topological sorting framed around a repository, so refresh core graph reasoning alongside application-level work.
Behavioral preparation still matters: candidates report questions about why Target, their background, communication style, collaboration, and how they solve problems. Prepare concise examples that connect your experience to the role, and be ready to discuss them with both recruiters and technical interviewers. Evidence is limited and the reported format is not uniform across teams.
Synthesized from 5 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Target process.
The process felt longer than it needed to be. I started with a recruiter call, then moved into an online coding assignment that was based on Spring Boot. After that I had a hiring manager round where they asked about my past project work and some concurrency in Java, so that part was more about explaining what I had actually built and how I handled threading issues than solving a pure algorithm problem. The next step was a pair programming round over Zoom, and that was the most frustrating part for me. They gave me code with a bug and expected me to fix it and write test cases in about 1.5 hours. Even when I found the issue, the code apparently still would not build, and the interviewer did not seem very interested in helping or adjusting the exercise. I also got a topological sorting question framed around a repo, so there was still some data structures and algorithms mixed in with the stack-specific work.
There were also a couple of face-to-face technical rounds that stayed focused on projects and general technical discussion. One round that was supposed to be behavioral ended up turning into another technical interview, which was a little off-putting because it felt like the format changed on the fly. Overall the questions themselves were not especially complex, but the process was tiring because there were so many rounds and the expectations in the pair programming session were not very clear. I ended up getting rejected with no offer and no real feedback afterward. If you’re preparing, I’d make sure you can talk through a Spring Boot project in detail, explain concurrency in Java clearly, and practice debugging broken code while writing tests under time pressure.
Prep tip from this candidate
Be ready for a Spring Boot-based coding assignment, then practice explaining a Java project with concurrency details in a hiring-manager style discussion. Also drill live debugging and test writing, since the pair programming round centered on fixing buggy code that may not even build cleanly.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Target
Select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department
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| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Customer Orders | |
| Over-Budget Projects | |
| Average Order Value | |
| Normalize Grades | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Black Friday Shopping Spree | |
| Common Prefix | |
| Sales Leaderboard | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Your Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| Slow OLAP Aggregations | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Retailer Data Warehouse | |
| Total Spent on Products | |
| Cumulative Sales Since Last Restocking | |
| Valid Anagram | |
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| ATM Robbery | |
| String Palindromes | |
| Find Mismatched Words | |
| Testing Constraints | |
| Azure Kubernetes Infrastructure | |
| Friend Requests Down | |
| Why Do You Want to Work With Us | |
| Weighted Average Sales |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report an opening recruiter conversation that may cover background, qualifications, interest in the role, and the next steps. Prepare a clear account of your experience and why Target interests you; one report also described salary expectations and availability near the end of the process.
Reported early evaluations included a technical assessment and, in another account, a six-question video interview before an in-person conversation. The available reports do not establish one standard screen, so review both concise written responses and core technical fundamentals.
One candidate reported discussing past projects and Java concurrency with a hiring manager after a Spring Boot assignment. Be prepared to explain what you built, how you approached threading issues, and the reasoning behind implementation choices.
One candidate reported a Zoom pair-programming session of about 1.5 hours focused on fixing buggy code and writing test cases; a topological-sorting question was also included. Practice narrating diagnosis, validating assumptions, and adding tests while you work.
Candidates report later conversations with technical or team stakeholders that can blend project discussion with behavioral topics. One candidate said an expected behavioral round became technical, so be ready to shift between communication examples and technical explanation.
