did the charles schwab virtual onsite (they still call it onsite even though it's all video) last month for a senior swe role on the security / identity platform team. sharing the breakdown.
total time: about 4.5 hours with short breaks between panels
panels, in order:
panel 1 - coding (60 min, 2 engineers): one problem to start, expected to solve it and then discuss follow-up variations. the base problem was medium difficulty. the interesting part was the follow-ups which asked about memory constraints and what you'd do if the input was streaming vs batch. good prep tip: don't just solve the problem, be ready to explain the trade-offs of your approach.
panel 2 - system design (60 min, 1 senior, 1 principal): design a real-time notification system for financial events. the domain matters here, they cared about guaranteed delivery, idempotency, and what happens if the same trade trigger fires twice. covered earlier in this thread by someone else but confirming the fintech focus is real.
panel 3 - behavioral / values (45 min, hiring manager + 1 peer): this was the most conversational. felt like a get-to-know-you with some STAR questions threaded in. they asked about collaboration, handling ambiguity, and how i approach projects where the requirements weren't fully defined. not scary but don't phone it in.
panel 4 - cross-functional (30 min, someone from a partner team): more of a "would you be good to work with" vibe. talked through how i communicate decisions, handle disagreements, that kind of thing.
logistics: all zoom, stable connections, interviewers were prompt. feedback was back to the recruiter within 5 business days which i thought was fast.
overall the pacing was fine. the 10-minute breaks between panels were enough to reset. bring water.