Just finished the full loop for a software engineer II role at Boeing Digital Aviation Solutions in Seattle. Took about 6 weeks from application to offer. Figured I'd write it up since I couldn't find much recent data when I was prepping.
Timeline breakdown: Week 1: Online application through Boeing's careers site Week 2: Recruiter phone screen (~30 min) Week 3: Technical phone screen with a hiring manager (45 min, mix of coding + behavioral) Weeks 4-5: Onsite panel (4 rounds, virtual for me) Week 6: Offer and negotiation
The technical side wasn't FAANG-hard. No LeetCode mediums with tricks. They asked things like: implement a rate limiter, design a simple REST API for tracking flight maintenance schedules, explain how you'd debug a memory leak in a Java service. The coding was collaborative, less about optimization and more about can-you-build-this.
Behavioral was heavier than I expected. Three of the four panel rounds had substantial behavioral components. They care a lot about safety culture, which makes sense given what Boeing does. Every other question touched on how you've handled disagreements with leadership, what you did when you saw a quality issue, how you escalate concerns.
Stack questions: Java, Spring Boot, some Python, cloud (AWS), and they mentioned migrating legacy systems so knowing older patterns (SOAP, XML, monoliths) didn't hurt.
One thing nobody mentions: they move slowly. Expect 3-5 business days between every step. Don't read silence as rejection.
I had 6 YOE going in, targeting SWE II. Ended up leveled there, which felt about right. Comp in a separate post but let's just say it's competitive with aerospace peers, not with FAANG.