MathWorks Interview Questions — Page 2

MathWorks·Software Engineer·Onsite - System Design / Architecture

May 2026

MathWorks system design round for a software engineer role. The whole interview was one big design problem about an online course platform with a pretty involved hierarchy and some tricky constraints around prerequisites and ID generation. Felt like a lot to cover in one session.

Design an online course purchase and distribution system where companies contain organizations which contain members, courses have prerequisite dependencies (structured as a DAG), companies have their own pricing plans, and companies can buy courses for their members. Cover the data model, key APIs, member ID generation, and scaling approach.

“This was a lot to unpack.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a SQL question that looked manageable on the surface but had enough moving parts to slow me down. The coupon validation logic and the LEAST() cap on discounts were where things got interesting.

Given an orders table and a coupons table, write a SQL query that computes the final cost per order, where the discount is the lesser of (subtotal * discount_pct) and max_discount, only applied when the coupon code matches and the order date falls within the coupon's validity window, and an 8% tax is applied on the discounted subtotal.

“The join itself was fine, a left join on coupon code plus a date range condition in the ON clause.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a graph algorithms question that required actual working code plus complexity analysis. Pretty standard technical screen but they wanted more than just a sketch, they wanted something you could compile.

Given an unweighted graph with n vertices and m edges as an adjacency list, implement BFS from a source vertex s that returns both a shortest-distance array (with -1 for unreachable nodes) and a parent array for path reconstruction. Handle disconnected graphs and analyze time and space complexity.

“The BFS itself wasn't the hard part, I've done it a hundred times.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks SET interview with an array pairing problem that looks straightforward until you actually think about what the target sum should be. Sorting and two pointers got me there but I fumbled a bit on the product accumulation part.

Given an array of even length, pair up all elements so every pair has the same sum. If valid pairings exist, return the sum of all pair products. If not, return -1.

“Sorted the array first, then ran two pointers from each end to check if every pair hit the same target.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a cost-modeling question that felt more like a math class than a coding screen. Three parts, all tied to the same pricing scenario, and you had to show your work.

A vendor has a fixed setup fee of $500, tiered unit pricing ($12 for the first 1,000 units, $9 beyond that), and tiered shipping ($0.80/unit up to 2,000, $0.50 after). Write a formula for total cost as a function of quantity.
Using the cost formula, compute total cost and average cost per unit at q = 1,600 and q = 3,200.
If you resell each unit at $15, what quantity do you need to sell to break even? Walk through your steps.

“This part was fine but I overthought the piecewise structure.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Hiring Manager Screen

May 2026

Interviewed at MathWorks for a Software Engineer in Test role. The main question was a reflective one about internship experiences, which sounds easy but actually requires you to be pretty honest about yourself in real time.

Looking back at two internships you've had, what did you like and dislike about each one? What worked, what didn't, and what would you do differently?

“I went in thinking this was a softball but it's sneakier than it looks.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks SET interview, one question about my summer internship. Pretty low-key, they wanted the project overview, the stack, and where things got hard, but didn't push too deep after.

Walk me through your most recent summer internship: what was the project, what technologies did you work with, and what was the hardest part?

“I'd practiced this one but still rambled a bit on the tech stack before getting to the challenge part, which is probably what they actually cared about.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

Coded for MathWorks as a software engineer candidate and got a binary search problem dressed up in a security-themed wrapper. Pretty clean round overall, nothing too surprising.

Given an array of integers representing server security values and a number k, you can increment any value by 1 per operation. After exactly k operations, what is the maximum possible minimum value across the array?

“Binary search on the answer.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Hiring Manager Screen

May 2026

Hiring manager round at MathWorks for a software engineer role, mixing a resume deep-dive with behavioral questions. Pretty standard format but the resume portion caught me more off guard than I expected.

Walk me through a specific project on your resume. What was the problem, what did you personally do, and what was the result?
Tell me about a project you're most proud of.
Describe a time you had a difficult conflict with a teammate or stakeholder. How did you handle it?
Tell me about a time you failed. What happened and what did you take away from it?
Give me an example of working through a situation where requirements or direction were unclear. How did you move forward?
How do you prioritize when you have competing demands and limited time or resources?
Tell me about a time you had to influence a decision or lead something without having direct authority over the people involved.

“This is where I fumbled a bit.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a logic puzzle that looked deceptively simple on paper. One round, one meaty brain teaser, and a lot of second-guessing myself mid-deduction.

Four coworkers A, B, C, and D stand in a row. A is left of C. B is not at either end. D is next to exactly one of A or C. There is exactly one person between A and B. Figure out the exact left-to-right order.

“I started by pinning down where B could go since it can't be at either end, so positions 2 or 3.”

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