Harvey Software Engineer Interview Experience — Hiring Manager Screen, Then a Spreadsheet Tech Screen I Didn't Finish

I applied online and a recruiter reached out.

First round was a hiring manager screen. They asked questions like:

• tell me about a project I owned in the last year
• tell me about tough feedback I received
• tell me about a time I discovered an important problem outside of my immediate focus area

Second round was the technical screen. It was similar to the spreadsheet question you can find online, but my interviewer wanted the value calculated during set_cell and not get_cell. The third part was cycle detection, but I ran out of time, and I ultimately did not pass because the recruiter said I have to finish all parts.

Part 1. Build a mini spreadsheet: set_cell(label, value) / get_cell(label), where a label is letters+digits (e.g. "A1").

Part 2. Formulas: a cell value may be a formula referencing other cells, e.g. set_cell("A2", "A1+20") so get_cell("A2") == 30 when A1 == 10; set_cell("A3", "A1+A2+5"). Only + is supported (no -, *, /). Formula is prefixed with =, e.g. "=B1+5". Value must be calculated during set_cell, not get_cell.

Part 3. Cycle Detection: detect and reject circular dependencies, e.g. A1 = B1 + 1, B1 = A1 + 1, or A1 = B1 + C1, C1 = A1.