As a Software Engineer at SCAN Health Plan, you play a vital role in developing and maintaining the technology solutions that support the organization’s mission to enhance the health and well-being of the communities it serves. This position is integral to delivering high-quality healthcare products and services, ensuring that systems are efficient, secure, and user-friendly. The work you do directly impacts members' experiences, allowing for scalable solutions that address complex healthcare challenges. In this role, you will engage with various teams, including product development, data analytics, and operations, to create innovative software solutions that improve patient care and streamline internal processes. You may work on projects involving cloud platforms, CRM systems, or even social media content development for outreach. The role demands a blend of technical expertise and a collaborative spirit, as you will frequently interface with cross-functional teams to drive initiatives that resonate with SCAN’s values of service and community engagement.
Phone Screening
reportedThe interview process begins with a short phone screening to assess initial fit for the role.
What to demonstrate
- The interview process begins with a short phone screening to assess initial fit for the role
- Depth in Software Engineering
How to prepare
- Be able to walk your CV end to end in two minutes, and say why this company specifically.
- Have your salary expectations, notice period and location constraints ready, and ask for the rest of the loop in writing.
Onsite Interview
reportedCandidates will meet with the hiring manager and development team members to discuss experience and technical skills.
What to demonstrate
- Candidates will meet with the hiring manager and development team members to discuss experience and technical skills
- Depth in Software Engineering
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: Describe a challenging technical problem you faced and how you resolved it.
- Answer aloud and timed: What experience do you have with cloud technologies, and how have you utilized them in software projects?
PracHub editorial advice for the preparation topics above.
Research Company Values
Familiarize yourself with SCAN Health Plan's mission and values to articulate how you align with them during your interview.
Practice Behavioral Questions
Prepare for behavioral interview questions by using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your responses clearly.
Ask Insightful Questions
Prepare thoughtful questions to ask your interviewers about the team, projects, and company culture. This demonstrates your interest and engagement.
Stay Calm and Confident
Approach the interview with a calm demeanor and confidence in your abilities. Remember, they are interested in you as a candidate.
Choose a category, try a prompt, then open its approach, worked solution or follow-up when you need it.
Write a function to reverse a string in your preferred programming language.
Write a function to reverse a string in your preferred programming language.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
How would you implement a search algorithm to find an item in a sorted array?
How would you implement a search algorithm to find an item in a sorted array?
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Explain the concept of recursion with an example.
Explain the concept of recursion with an example.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Describe how you would optimize a piece of code that is running slowly.
Describe how you would optimize a piece of code that is running slowly.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Can you solve a coding challenge on a whiteboard or online platform?
Can you solve a coding challenge on a whiteboard or online platform?
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Describe how you would approach designing a database schema for a new feature.
Describe how you would approach designing a database schema for a new feature.
Approach
- Name the grain you start from and join outward from it.
- Check whether any join is one-to-many before aggregating, or the sums inflate.
- Say which index the query would use, and what makes it unusable.
- Handle the rows that do not match: that is usually the actual question.
Follow-up
- How does the query change if that join becomes one-to-many?
- What happens to this when the table is ten times larger?
Replace offset paging on the resource feed with keyset
resource holds resource_id, tenant_id, owner_user_id, title, body_ref, version, status ('draft','active','archived','deleted'), created_at, updated_at, deleted_at, with an index on (tenant_id, status, updated_at DESC, resource_id DESC). The listing endpoint returns active resources for one tenant, newest update first, 50 per page, today with LIMIT 50 OFFSET n. Tenants reach page 400 and rows are created while they read. Write the keyset query, define what the cursor carries and how it is encoded, and say which part of the index each predicate uses. Assume PostgreSQL 16.
Approach
- Name the two failures separately. OFFSET 20000 makes the server produce and discard 20,000 rows, so page cost grows with depth rather than with page size. Independently, any write that changes how many rows sort above the offset moves the window between two fetches, and the direction decides which anomaly you get: an insert lands at the head of updated_at DESC and pushes already-returned rows down past the boundary, so they are returned a second time; a delete above the offset, or a row whose updated_at is bumped above the cursor, pulls rows up and one is never returned at all. Nothing in the response reveals either.
- Write the seek: WHERE tenant_id = $1 AND status = 'active' AND (updated_at, resource_id) < ($2, $3) ORDER BY updated_at DESC, resource_id DESC LIMIT 50. The row-value comparison is one index range rather than a disjunction, and both columns are NOT NULL, which is what makes that comparison well defined.
- Map each predicate onto the index: tenant_id and status are equality on the leading columns, (updated_at, resource_id) is the range, and the ORDER BY matches the index order so no Sort node appears and the scan stops after 50 rows. The DESC in the definition only matters for mixed directions — a plain ascending btree on the same columns is read backwards for this query.
- Put both sort columns in the cursor and nothing the client can tamper with into another tenant: base64 of (updated_at, resource_id), validated server-side, with tenant_id taken from the principal.
Follow-up
- The client asks for 'jump to page 400'. What do you offer instead, and what does the honest version cost?
- Sort order becomes user-selectable across four columns. How many indexes is that, and which would you refuse to add?
What programming languages are you proficient in, and how have you applied them in previous projects?
What programming languages are you proficient in, and how have you applied them in previous projects?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Can you explain the principles of object-oriented programming and how they are applied in software development
Can you explain the principles of object-oriented programming and how they are applied in software development?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Describe a challenging technical problem you faced and how you resolved it.
Describe a challenging technical problem you faced and how you resolved it.
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
What experience do you have with cloud technologies, and how have you utilized them in software projects?
What experience do you have with cloud technologies, and how have you utilized them in software projects?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
How do you ensure the security and integrity of your code?
How do you ensure the security and integrity of your code?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Can you design a system that handles user authentication for a healthcare application?
Can you design a system that handles user authentication for a healthcare application?
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
What factors do you consider when planning the architecture of a new software project?
What factors do you consider when planning the architecture of a new software project?
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
How would you ensure that your system can handle increased loads as the user base grows?
How would you ensure that your system can handle increased loads as the user base grows?
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
Discuss how microservices architecture can be beneficial in software development.
Discuss how microservices architecture can be beneficial in software development.
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
Describe your process for analyzing user feedback to inform software improvements.
Describe your process for analyzing user feedback to inform software improvements.
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
How would you prioritize tasks when faced with multiple urgent issues?
How would you prioritize tasks when faced with multiple urgent issues?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Can you provide an example of a time you used data to make an informed decision?
Can you provide an example of a time you used data to make an informed decision?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
How would you approach debugging a production issue?
How would you approach debugging a production issue?
Approach
- Establish what changed and when, before forming any theory.
- Pick a bisection that eliminates candidates whichever way it turns out.
- Check the instrumentation before believing the symptom.
- Separate the trigger from the cause; the deploy is rarely the bug.
Follow-up
- What would you look at first, and what would it rule out?
- How would you tell a cause from a coincidence here?
Given a scenario where a system is experiencing performance issues, what steps would you take to identify the
Given a scenario where a system is experiencing performance issues, what steps would you take to identify the root cause?
Approach
- Establish what changed and when, before forming any theory.
- Pick a bisection that eliminates candidates whichever way it turns out.
- Check the instrumentation before believing the symptom.
- Separate the trigger from the cause; the deploy is rarely the bug.
Follow-up
- What would you look at first, and what would it rule out?
- How would you tell a cause from a coincidence here?
Built from the rounds and topics SCAN Health Plan candidates report.
Prepare, practise & reflect
One practical outcome each day. Spend longer where you need it.
0 / 7 done01Map the SCAN Health Plan loop
- Write out the reported sequence: Phone Screening, Onsite Interview.
- For each round, write one sentence on what it is judging, from the description above, and mark the one you are least ready for.
Deliverable: A one-page map of the 2 reported rounds, with the weakest marked.
02Work Software Engineering
- Spend the session on Software Engineering, which SCAN Health Plan candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Software Engineering and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Software Engineering.
03Work Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
- Spend the session on Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), which SCAN Health Plan candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).
04Work ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)
- Spend the session on ETL (Extract, Transform, Load), which SCAN Health Plan candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in ETL (Extract, Transform, Load).
05Answer out loud: Technical / Domain Questions
- Answer aloud, timed: What programming languages are you proficient in, and how have you applied them in previous projects?
- Answer aloud, timed: Can you explain the principles of object-oriented programming and how they are applied in software development?
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Technical / Domain Questions question(s), under time.
06Answer out loud: System Design / Architecture
- Answer aloud, timed: Can you design a system that handles user authentication for a healthcare application?
- Answer aloud, timed: Describe how you would approach designing a database schema for a new feature.
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported System Design / Architecture question(s), under time.
07Answer out loud: Behavioral / Leadership
- Answer aloud, timed: Tell me about a time you worked on a team project. What was your role, and how did you contribute?
- Answer aloud, timed: How do you handle conflicts within a team?
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Behavioral / Leadership question(s), under time.
Expand any day for tasks and deliverables. Your progress is saved on this device.
Behavioural rounds judge the decision you made and what it cost.
Tell me about a time you worked on a team project. What was your role, and how did you contribute?
Tell me about a time you worked on a team project. What was your role, and how did you contribute?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
How do you handle conflicts within a team?
How do you handle conflicts within a team?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Describe a situation where you had to advocate for a technical solution. How did you approach it?
Describe a situation where you had to advocate for a technical solution. How did you approach it?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
What motivates you to perform well in your job?
What motivates you to perform well in your job?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Can you provide an example of how you adapted to change in a work environment?
Can you provide an example of how you adapted to change in a work environment?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
- 01
Tell me about a time you worked on a team project. What was your role, and how did you contribute?
- 02
How do you handle conflicts within a team?
- 03
Describe a situation where you had to advocate for a technical solution. How did you approach it?
- 04
What motivates you to perform well in your job?
What is the typical difficulty level of the interview process?
The interview process at SCAN Health Plan is considered average in difficulty. Candidates should be prepared to engage in both technical and behavioral questions, demonstrating their skills and alignment with the company’s values.
SCAN Health Plan Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What differentiates successful candidates?
Successful candidates often demonstrate a strong technical background, effective communication skills, and a genuine passion for contributing to healthcare solutions. They also align well with SCAN's culture and values.
SCAN Health Plan Software Engineer candidate reports ↗How long does the interview process usually take?
The typical timeline from initial screening to an offer can vary, but candidates can expect the process to span several weeks. Stay proactive and communicate with your recruiter for updates.
SCAN Health Plan Software Engineer candidate reports ↗Is remote work an option for this role?
While this may vary by specific team and project needs, SCAN Health Plan does offer flexible work arrangements, including remote and hybrid options.
SCAN Health Plan Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What is the company culture like?
SCAN Health Plan fosters a collaborative and inclusive culture that emphasizes community engagement and service. Employees are encouraged to share ideas and work together towards common goals.
SCAN Health Plan Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What topics does SCAN Health Plan test in interviews?
SCAN Health Plan interviews most often cover Stakeholder Management, Problem Solving, Requirements Gathering, SQL, and Program Management. The exact emphasis depends on the specific role you apply for.
SCAN Health Plan Software Engineer candidate reports ↗Sources & methodology 3 sources ↗
No official company page is cited. Rounds and questions come from candidate reports and PracHub editorial material; each source shows the date it was read.
- 01SCAN Health Plan Software Engineer candidate reports ↗
Company-reported rounds, questions and FAQ.
Candidate reports · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 02PracHub Software Engineer practice ↗
PracHub practice material, not company-reported.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 03PracHub preparation framework ↗
PracHub preparation guidance.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22
Explore related engineering environments and compare the preparation focus.
Vercel Software Engineer Interview Guide
Debugging practice for Vercel software engineer prep built on a reproduction you trust, narrowing to the smallest failing input, and changing one variable per run so the result stays attributable.
CoreWeave Software Engineer Interview Guide
Failure-handling practice for CoreWeave software engineer candidates: requests whose outcome a timeout leaves unknown, where a retry is safe, and deduplicating at the receiver instead of assuming exactly-once delivery.
Confluent Software Engineer Interview Guide
Concurrency exercises for Confluent candidates: check-then-act races, deadlock from inconsistent lock ordering, and why two individually atomic operations do not compose into an atomic update.
Capital One Software Engineer Interview Guide
Code-reading and review practice for Capital One candidates: tracing unfamiliar control flow, finding the invariant a function quietly depends on, and separating a correctness defect from a matter of taste.