KPMG · Primly Community

KPMG software engineer interview process, full loop breakdown (2026)

remote_swe_42 · 5 replies

Just finished the full KPMG software engineer interview process for a senior backend role on their Ignite platform team. Took about 5 weeks start to finish. Posting this because the info online is sparse and most of it is for advisory, not tech.

Here's the actual sequence:

Week 1: Recruiter screen (30 min) Standard stuff. Background, why KPMG, work auth, general comp range conversation. The recruiter was pretty transparent about the band upfront, which was a nice change. They asked if I was open to hybrid (yes, 2 days in office, NYC or Atlanta options).

Week 2: HireVue async video Yeah, HireVue. Three behavioral questions recorded on your own time. They give you 30 seconds to prep, 2-3 minutes to answer. This felt like a filter before they commit live interviewer time. Questions were things like: tell me about a time you delivered a project under a tight deadline, describe a difficult technical decision you had to defend.

Week 3: Technical phone screen (45 min) With a senior engineer on the team. Half the call was resume walkthrough, half was one medium-level coding question on arrays/sliding window in HackerRank. They let you pick your language. Not algorithmic heavy, more like checking that you can actually write code.

Weeks 4-5: Onsite (virtual, 3 panels) Round 1: One coding problem (graph traversal, medium-hard), plus some API design discussion Round 2: System design, 50 min. More on this below. Round 3: Behavioral with a hiring manager

Total interviews from first contact to offer: 6 sessions. Feedback came back in about 8 business days after onsite. I got an offer.

The process felt more structured than a lot of startups I've interviewed at, less chaotic than FAANG. They use a defined rubric. The behavioral round carries real weight here, more so than at pure tech companies.

5 replies

jp_newgrad

This is super helpful. Did they ask about specific KPMG values or was it more generic behavioral stuff? I'm trying to figure out whether to study their published values or just do standard STAR prep.

remote_swe_42

Mostly STAR. The HM did ask one question that kind of mapped to their integrity value, something about a time you caught an error that could have affected a client. But it wasn't explicitly framed as 'tell me how you embody our values.' Standard prep gets you there.

infra_ines

Good write-up. HireVue async is such a vibe killer. Every time I see that in a process I lose a little enthusiasm before I've even talked to a human.

bootcamp_bri

5 weeks total is actually not that bad compared to some of the horror stories. Did they give any feedback during the process, or just a final yes/no?

returner_ren

Thank you for breaking this out by week. I'm prepping for a similar role at a Big 4 and the timeline visibility alone is really useful.