Candidates describe General Atomics software interviews as resume-driven conversations with a strong C and C++ focus, run as phone screens and Teams panels, and for some roles an on-site visit.
$110K
Avg. Base Comp
$120K
Avg. Total Comp
Not reported
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Candidates describe General Atomics software interviews as conversations about what you have actually built, more than as algorithm contests. The most consistent theme across the reports is that interviewers press on resume projects in detail: what your role was, how things worked, what obstacles you hit, and why you made specific decisions. One engineer who received an offer was also asked for concrete examples of technical insight moving a project forward.
Two intern candidates report C and C++ fundamentals, including pointers, pointer arithmetic, memory management, polymorphism, and Java versus C++ differences. Both said there was no live coding, and one tied the pointer questions to the company's autonomous systems work.
The format varies a lot by role. One intern had a single 30-minute Teams panel with two staff engineers. One engineer described a phone screen, a three-panel coding round, and a final coding task where the interviewer gave little clarification. Another engineer was flown to San Diego for an on-site of about three hours with a supervisor, manager, director, and senior engineers, plus a technical presentation. A simulation software developer who did not advance described what the final round would have been: four one-hour panels covering C++ theory, live coding, logic puzzles, and data structure choices.
No candidate gave a total round count or an end-to-end timeline, so ask your recruiter what to expect for your team. Practice explaining your projects out loud.
Synthesized from 6 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the General Atomics process.
I interviewed for a Software Engineer internship at General Atomics in late 2024, and the whole process felt pretty straightforward but intense. It was a single 30-minute panel interview conducted over Microsoft Teams with two staff engineers on the line. The format was split almost evenly between behavioral and technical content, which caught me a bit off guard — I'd prepped heavily for coding challenges, but there weren't any.
The behavioral half opened with a question about a time I'd faced a challenge working with a team, which was fairly standard. But then the conversation shifted to my resume. They spent a good chunk of time walking through my projects in detail — asking me to explain how specific things worked, what my actual role was, and what obstacles I ran into. That part felt more like a technical conversation about my experience than a traditional interview question.
On the technical side, they focused entirely on C and C++ fundamentals. We talked a lot about how pointers work in C and pointer arithmetic, especially in the context of their autonomous systems work. They seemed genuinely interested in whether I understood low-level memory concepts, not whether I could solve a tricky algorithm. No live coding at all. The whole thing wrapped up in about half an hour, and I heard back about two weeks later that they'd decided to move forward with other candidates.
Prep tip from this candidate
Focus on mastering pointer arithmetic and low-level memory concepts in C/C++ — this role expects deep fundamentals, not algorithm chops. Be prepared to walk through your resume projects in detail and explain exactly what you built and the technical challenges you solved.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at General Atomics
How would you answer when an Interviewer asks why you applied to their company?
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Your Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Over-Budget Projects | |
| Scrambled Tickets | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Priority Queue Using Linked List | |
| Merge N Sorted Lists | |
| Nightly Job | |
| Slow SQL Query | |
| Implementing the Fibonacci Sequence in Three Different Methods | |
| Loan Model | |
| User Event Data Pipeline | |
| Swap Variables | |
| Distributed Training Instability | |
| The Longest Journey | |
| Deciding Between Solutions | |
| Text Editor With OOP | |
| Seller Type Modeling | |
| Testing Constraints | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| The Pirate’s Hunt | |
| Triangle as Binary Array | |
| Repository Policy Enforcement | |
| International e-Commerce Warehouse | |
| Safe Deployments | |
| Distributed Authentication Model | |
| Fixed-Length Arrays: Deletion | |
| Azure Kubernetes Infrastructure | |
| Robotics Upgrade Tradeoff |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates describe an opening call about logistics, the role, work experience, and past projects. A simulation developer had a 30-minute recruiter screen. An engineer described a phone screen on experience and skills. An intern spoke with the hiring manager for about an hour, starting with a resume walkthrough. Prepare a tight project summary.
Candidates describe Microsoft Teams conversations with managers or engineers. One intern reported a 30-minute panel with two staff engineers, split between behavioral questions and C/C++ fundamentals, with no coding. A simulation developer spoke with a department manager about resume projects. One engineer described a three-panel round of coding questions.
Intern candidates reported pointers and pointer arithmetic, memory management, polymorphism, and Java versus C++ differences, with no live coding. One engineer reported a final multi-question coding task where the interviewer mostly asked why decisions were made rather than clarifying requirements, so state your assumptions aloud.
One engineer who received an offer was flown to San Diego for an on-site of about three hours. It included interviews with a supervisor, manager, director, and four senior engineers, a required technical presentation, and an office tour. Other candidates did not describe an on-site, so it may not apply to every role.
