Airtable Software Engineer interview with live-coding trick questions

Airtable·Software Engineer·Reported Jun 2021
Technical ScreenOnsiteMedium

Recruiter outreach started the process, and the early conversation felt more like pressure to apply than an authentic screen. I then had a technical phone screen that felt like a live-coding trick problem. It seemed less focused on my actual experience and more focused on whether I noticed a specific inefficient behavior or used a particular "special term" they wanted to hear. The experience felt contrived and one-directional. I had little room to introduce myself or ask thoughtful questions at the end.

The process then moved to a virtual onsite over two days, with several interviews lasting roughly three to four hours each day. Most of the rounds again centered on live-coding trick questions. I was surprised by how easy it felt to fail without using the exact phrasing they expected. There also weren't interviews dedicated to my background or the kinds of problems I'd solved in real work.

The interviewers seemed fine on the surface, but the process felt disengaged and dragged on. The recruiter took weeks to send a decision after the interviews. I also received little clear feedback or communication, including no timely rejection message after I had expected one.

I didn't receive an offer. My biggest reflection was that the format didn't match what it claimed to evaluate. It mostly measured whether I caught the exact signal they wanted.

Location: Austin, TX. Overall feedback: Negative. Offer status: No offer.

Published

Curated and edited by PracHub

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Interview at a glance

Company
Airtable
Role
Software Engineer
Rounds
Technical Screen → Onsite
Difficulty
Medium
Date
Reported Jun 2021

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