Type · past-experience
Tell me about a time you had to work with a legacy system or codebase that was difficult to understand or modify. How did you approach the challenge, and what was the outcome?
How to Pass the SEB Software Engineer Interview in 2026
The SEB DNA (TL;DR)
SEB's bar-raiser round critically evaluates a candidate's ability to align financial expertise with long-term sustainability goals, as evidenced in their Annual Reports. They seek individuals who can drive value within the Nordic financial landscape.
The SEB Interview Loop
Your onsite loop will typically consist of 5 rounds.
- 1
Round 1
Recruiter ScreenMotivation, role fit, logistics. - 2
Round 2
Coding ScreenLeetCode-medium algorithmic problems under time pressure. - 3
Round 3
System DesignDistributed systems, trade-offs at scale, architecture under constraints. - 4
Round 4
Onsite CodingLeetCode-hard, debugging, code clarity, edge cases. - 5
Round 5
Behavioral / LeadershipPast evidence of ownership, influence, resolving conflict.
The Danger Zone: Top Reasons Candidates Fail
Based on our database of SEB interview outcomes, avoid these common traps:
- Inefficient search or optimization algorithm for finding the path.
- Generic answers not tailored to finance or SEB.
- Failing to consider memory constraints for storing historical trade data.
- Off-by-one errors in date/time comparisons.
Get the full SEB playbook, free
Every round, the exact grading rubric interviewers score against, all the questions, and unlimited mock-interview practice. Free account, no credit card.
Test Yourself: Real SEB Questions
Three real prompts pulled from our database.
Type · system-design
Design a system to monitor real-time market data feeds from multiple exchanges, detect anomalies (e.g., sudden price spikes or drops), and alert relevant trading desks. Consider scalability, fault tolerance, and latency.
Type · debugging
Here is a Python snippet intended to calculate the daily closing price from a list of intraday trades. It's producing incorrect results for some days. Debug and fix the code.
+ many more questions, signals, and worked examples
Sign up to unlock the full SEB grading rubric
SEB Interview Question Bank
A sample from our database, grouped by round. Sign up to see the full set.
9 of 14 questions shown
1
Recruiter Screen
1- 1
Type · motivation
What interests you about working as a Software Engineer at SEB, a leading financial institution, specifically within our Enterprise division?
2
Coding Screen
3- 2
Type · algorithmic
Given a stream of stock trades, each with a timestamp, symbol, and price, design an algorithm to efficiently calculate the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) for a given symbol over a specified time window. Assume the stream can be very large. - 3
Type · algorithmic
Implement a function that takes a list of financial transactions (each with an ID, amount, and timestamp) and returns a list of duplicate transactions based on a combination of amount and timestamp (within a small tolerance). - + 1 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)
3
System Design
3- 4
Type · system-design
Design a system to monitor real-time market data feeds from multiple exchanges, detect anomalies (e.g., sudden price spikes or drops), and alert relevant trading desks. Consider scalability, fault tolerance, and latency. - 5
Type · system-design
Design a system that allows SEB's enterprise clients to securely access and manage their financial reports and transaction histories. The system should handle potentially millions of records and provide an audit trail. - + 1 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)
4
Onsite Coding
3- 6
Type · algorithmic
Implement a function to calculate the optimal execution path for a large financial order, considering market liquidity at different price levels and minimizing market impact. This is a simplified version of a complex problem. - 7
Type · debugging
Here's a piece of code that processes a batch of financial transactions. It seems to be occasionally corrupting data or missing transactions under load. Debug and identify the race condition or concurrency issue. - + 1 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)
5
Behavioral / Leadership
4- 8
Type · past-experience
Tell me about a time you had to work with a legacy system or codebase that was difficult to understand or modify. How did you approach the challenge, and what was the outcome? - 9
Type · past-experience
Describe a situation where you had a significant disagreement with a colleague or manager regarding a technical decision. How did you handle it, and what was the resolution? - + 2 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)
Unlock all 14 SEB questions, free
No credit card. Every question with its framework, the grading signals interviewers score against, and a worked answer for each.
Interview tracks at SEB
How SEB's DNA translates across functions. Pick your role.
Compare SEB with similar employers
Same DNA, different bar. Browse the closest companies in our database and see how their loops differ.
Generali
Same tierGenerali's 'Generali Group Navigate' strategy underpins interview assessments, seeking candidates who demonstrate a r...
See Generali interview questions
Berkshire Hathaway
Same tierBerkshire Hathaway values deep business acumen, long-term strategic thinking, and unwavering integrity. Candidates ar...
See Berkshire Hathaway interview questions
UOB
Same tierThe 'Build the Future' ethos guides UOB's hiring, evaluating candidates on their structured thinking for financial se...
See UOB interview questions
Practice SEB interviews end-to-end
SEB Mock Interview
Run a live mock interview with our AI interviewer using SEB-style prompts. Get scored on structure, signal, and answer length - exactly how the real loop grades you.
Open
STAR Stories for SEB Behavioral Rounds
Build a Story Bank of your past wins, mapped to the leadership signals SEB interviewers grade on. Reuse them across every behavioral round.
Open
SEB Interview Prep Hub
The frameworks behind every SEB round: CIRCLES for product sense, hypothesis-driven debugging for analytical, STAR for behavioral. Learn each one in 10 minutes.
Open
Interview Frameworks
CIRCLES, STAR, AARRR, RICE, MECE. The exact frameworks that make SEB interviewers nod instead of frown. Step-by-step playbooks with the moves and the pitfalls.
Open
Sample answers
What a strong answer to these SEB interview questions shows.
Tell me about a time you had to work with a legacy system or codebase that was difficult to understand or modify. How did you approach the challenge, and what was the outcome?
A strong answer shows: Systematic approach to understanding the legacy system.; Strategies for managing risk during changes.; Positive outcome or lessons learned.; Collaboration with team members..
Design a system to monitor real-time market data feeds from multiple exchanges, detect anomalies (e.g., sudden price spikes or drops), and alert relevant trading desks. Consider scalability, fault tolerance, and latency.
A strong answer shows: Scalable data ingestion strategy (e.g., Kafka, message queues).; Real-time processing and anomaly detection approach.; Robust alerting and notification system.; Consideration of latency and fault tolerance..
FAQ
Explore careers on Workfive →