EY Python Developer — five rounds including a client-facing one

Background

A lateral move at 3–5 years of experience. The whole process took a few weeks from start to finish, moving through a fairly standard set of stages for this level.

Round-by-round

1. HR screening

A short preliminary call — communication, salary expectations, and how well my resume lined up with the role.

2. Technical round 1

Heavily on Python fundamentals: decorators, generators, the GIL, multithreading, and deep vs shallow copy, along with core OOP concepts. Then basic SQL (joins, GROUP BY) and API concepts using Flask/Django, including JWT-based authentication.

3. Technical / managerial round 2

Deep into my actual project experience — the architecture decisions I'd made, how I approach problem-solving on the job, and how I'd handled technical challenges or tight deadlines in the past.

4. Client round

The role was tied to a specific client, so this round focused on client-facing experience — requirement gathering and navigating conflicts within a team.

5. Final HR round

Salary negotiation, the finer details of the offer, and onboarding next steps.

Verdict

Selected — Python Developer.