MathWorks Interview Questions — Page 3

MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks SET interview had at least one solid algorithms problem that I didn't feel fully prepared for going in. The problem looked deceptively clean on the surface but the optimal approach took me a minute to land on.

Given an array of integers, you repeatedly pick any two numbers, replace them with their sum, and pay a cost equal to that sum. Keep going until one number is left. What strategy minimizes the total cost?

“I knew there was a greedy angle here but took me a bit to convince myself why merging the two smallest first actually works.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

May 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a classic grid pathfinding problem. Pretty standard algorithmic round but they wanted the full package: verbal explanation, complexity analysis, and a working implementation.

Given an m×n grid where cells are either empty or walls, find the shortest path between a start cell and a target cell. You can move in four directions. Return the path length or -1 if no path exists. Explain your algorithm, its time and space complexity, and implement it in C++, Java, or JavaScript.

“BFS is the obvious move here since you want shortest path in an unweighted grid.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

Jun 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview that leaned heavily on probability and combinatorics. The math wasn't brutal but you'd better show your work clearly or it gets awkward fast.

A bag has 6 red balls and 4 blue balls. You draw 3 without replacement. What's the probability that at least 2 of the drawn balls are red? Walk through your calculations.

“The 'at least two' phrasing is where I slowed down.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

Jun 2026

MathWorks software engineer round with one algorithmic problem. Pretty clean problem statement but the constraints are sneaky and I spent more time than I'd like to admit figuring out the right approach.

You have an integer array and an integer K. You must perform exactly K decrement operations (each operation reduces one element by 1). After all operations, maximize the minimum value in the array. Return that maximum possible minimum.

“Binary search on the answer is the move here, but I didn't see it immediately.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

Jun 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a meaty constraint-satisfaction problem that required both a clean implementation and a real discussion of the underlying theory. Not your typical coding round.

You have a rectangular grid of R rows and C columns. A set of named entities must each occupy exactly one distinct cell. Relational clues constrain their placement (e.g. 'Alice is directly above Bob', 'Carol is in row 3'). Given the grid, entities, clues, and a target entity P, determine whether P's position is uniquely determined. If yes, return the (row, column). If not, report that no unique solution exists. Also discuss your modeling approach, constraint propagation, search strategy, and how complexity scales.

“This one took me a minute to even parse.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Onsite - Behavioral / Leadership

Jun 2026

Behavioral question from a MathWorks SET interview. Just one question shared, but it's the kind that sounds easy until you're actually in the room trying to remember a learning story that doesn't make you sound like you Googled it the night before.

Tell me about a time you had to learn something new. What did you learn, how did you approach it, and where did you actually use it?

“This one seems like a softball but it really isn't.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

Jun 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a grid-based constraint puzzle that took me a while to wrap my head around. The problem is more involved than it looks on the surface.

Given an R x C grid and a set of named entities, each placed in exactly one distinct cell, and a collection of relational clues (same row, same column, left/right, above/below), determine whether a target entity P has a uniquely determined position across all valid placements satisfying every clue. Return the unique (row, column) coordinate if exactly one location is possible, otherwise report no unique solution.

“My first instinct was backtracking and I went down that path for a few minutes before realizing I needed to think about what 'unique' actually means here.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen

Jun 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with a pretty gnarly string transformation problem. The algorithmic depth here was real, not your typical LeetCode warm-up.

Given two equal-length strings s and t over lowercase letters, you can repeatedly pick any character and replace all its occurrences in s with another character. The mapping applies globally and persists. Determine if s can be transformed into t, handling cycles by using a spare character as a temporary buffer if one exists outside t's character set. Design an algorithm and output a valid replacement sequence if possible.

“This one took me a while to even parse correctly.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Onsite - System Design / Architecture

Jun 2026

MathWorks software engineer interview with an object-oriented design question about a movie theater booking system. Pretty involved for a single round, they wanted class diagrams, concurrency strategy, the works.

Design a movie theater booking system using object-oriented principles. Walk through your class design, key entities, core operations, and how you'd handle concurrent seat reservations.

“This one sprawled in ways I didn't anticipate.”

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MathWorks·Software Engineer·Onsite - Behavioral / Leadership

Jun 2026

Behavioral interview for an SDET intern role at MathWorks. Eight questions covering project experience, career goals, conflict, and a reverse question at the end. Pretty standard loop but the trade-off probes caught me a little off guard.

Walk me through your most recent internship or project. What did you build, what stack did you use, and what was the hardest part?
Why MathWorks, and why this SDET role specifically?
What are your career goals after graduation?
You mentioned a specific approach to solving that challenge. What alternative did you consider, and why did you go with what you did instead?
Tell me about a time you had to pick up something new quickly.
Across your projects or internships, what did you enjoy most and what did you enjoy least?
Describe a time you had a conflict with a teammate or stakeholder and how you resolved it.
What kind of work do SDET interns typically do here, and how do you define success in that role?

“This is the opener so I had it rehearsed, but the follow-up about the hardest part is where things get real.”

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