I applied online. I interviewed at Lab49 in May 2024
Interview
The live coding interview had some basic tasks like fetching an endpoint and in the end a relatively easy algorithmic task like finding a given sequence in an array. The endpoint fetching involved handling pagination as well.
The whole interview process had quite a few rounds but my case could have been special because I didn't mind it because I had interviews with other companies at the time
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
In the live coding part of the interview process they haven't really asked questions but rather provided the task list.
First round was successful, mostly technical questions.
Recruiter was very optimistic, said that I was exceptionally good.
Then I made the mistake that I took the next round easy. It was not.
Well, it would not be that hard either, had I known the coding example beforehand. :D
In about 30 mins I had to change existing code to run as parallel as it can. I had to config thread numbers, and then merge results of spawned calc threads. I didn't manage to get it right, becuase I was tired, stressed, and am not used to this kind of parallel coding.
I was instructed to use Google freely but not AI. Well, Google already gives you AI summary first, so not sure where's the difference nowadays.
They said I was a complete disappointment, and they need much higher competences for this job.
On the next day, I spent an hour implementing the task in 3-4 different ways using java.concurrent classes for myself. It was fun, and I did learn from it. I don't think I was a bad candidate, I just need calm focus time to solve problems.
If they can't provide it, then maybe I am better off without the job.
(Or I need to practice this kind of interview tasks more..)
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Lab49 (Budapest) in Nov 2025
Interview
First Round: regular HR round talking about the company, and relevant previous experiences
Second Round: 90 minutes live coding. Allowed to read docs or ask questions, but can't use AI or google the solution.
Difficulty is a bit hard to judge, because the problems were the type where knowledge of specific patterns is required, and that determines whether it's hard or trivial.
Style of coding and a compact and "elegant" solution were emphasized over relevant skills, or thought process.
There was no followup or any feedback after the second round.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Make concurrent calls to a paginated API and concat the results in order. Display the results, then write various algorithms working with the above data.