Interview Experiences

Real candidates, real loops: every round, what was asked, and how it ended.

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9 stories

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KaratSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2026

Karat Software Engineer interview with live DS&A and platform feedback

After I received the initial email with the process details, I was invited to a technical interview. It felt straightforward. I joined a live video call and worked through a live data structures and algorithms test. Once the time was up, I received feedback on my performance. Overall, it was a good, well-run experience. I also liked that the setup felt modern and smooth, so I could focus on the w…

Technical Screen0
KaratSoftware Engineer
Reported Apr 2026

Karat Software Engineer interview with a rigid one-hour technical screen

My first contact involved scheduling and then a technical screen. The format felt time-boxed and rigid. I had a hard one-hour window, and the interaction style made it difficult to build momentum. We started with a quick setup where I was asked to explain my background in about a minute. The rest of the session became a quiz with multiple abstract scenarios, and I had to come up with solutions. A…

Technical Screen0
KaratSoftware Engineer
Jan 2026

Password Validator and a Three-Table Join Over Bad Audio

Weird screen, hard to categorize, but I hope this gets seen anyway... Classic low-quality Amazon-customer-service-tier microphone. I've worked with people like this for years and I still only understood about 50% of what the interviewer said. Fortunately they noticed too, so I politely asked them to speak a bit slower, and it got a lot better after that. Right at the start they said I didn't need…

Technical Screen0
KaratSoftware Engineer
Reported Aug 2025

Karat Software Engineer interview: one-hour live coding and system design session

The process started with a short, multiple-choice qualifying test. I could choose topics such as backend, general coding logic, or algorithms and data structures. After I passed, I was invited almost immediately to schedule the actual interview. The main technical interview was a live online video session that lasted about an hour. It combined discussion and analysis questions with a system desig…

RejectedOther0
KaratSoftware EngineerSenior+
Reported Jun 2024

Karat Software Engineer interview: written Splunk exam and video problem

I started with a written exam sent by email. It focused directly on Splunk-related engineering topics. I completed it and thought I had passed, so I moved on to a video round where I solved a problem during the call. Even after that, I couldn't move forward, and the rejection left me more puzzled than informed. What bothered me most was the uncertainty about the role. I didn't know which position…

RejectedOnline Assessment0
KaratSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2023

Karat Software Engineer: LeetCode-style coding under time pressure

My interview started with a classic skills screen: brief introductions and basic computer science questions, followed by the main coding portion in a live editor. The opening focused on fundamentals such as time and space complexity, and I remember the questions moving from easier concepts into harder problems. Once the coding round began, I worked through LeetCode-style questions. The first was…

Technical Screen0
KaratSoftware Engineer
Reported Jan 2022

Karat Software Engineer interview with three English and three coding questions

My Karat process began with a structured sequence of questions that felt a little relentless. After the initial stages, I answered three English questions and then moved straight into three coding problems. The first coding prompt asked whether a solution met the requirements. I was then asked more focused computer science questions about time and space complexity. The other coding problems were…

Technical Screen0
KaratSoftware Engineer
Reported Dec 2021

Karat Software Engineer interview with a moderate algorithm question

The interview started with a casual introduction from the interviewer, which made the conversation feel less cold. I then talked through my background, including my achievements, previous experiences, and how I’d handled challenges on earlier projects. It felt like that discussion was meant to provide context before the technical portion. Afterward, I worked through a moderate algorithm question.…

Technical Screen0
KaratSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2021

Karat Software Engineer interview with learning materials before rejection

I was surprised by how much Karat tried to include "learning" before making a final decision. What they called onboarding felt like an extension of the interview process. I studied their learning materials for a while and completed a couple of practice interviews, then still got rejected after about a week. The part that threw me off was that it didn't feel like optional preparation. It felt like…

RejectedOther0

What are interview experiences?

An interview experience is a candidate's own account of a hiring loop — not a question bank entry. It tells you the shape of the process: how many rounds there were, what each round actually tested, how long the gaps between them ran, and what the recruiter said at the end. That context is the part a question list cannot give you.

How to read them

Weight recent write-ups more heavily — interview loops change, often within a year. Read several for the same company and role rather than one: a single account tells you what one interviewer asked, while five tell you what the bar is. Note the outcome badge too, since a rejection write-up usually explains the gap far more precisely than an offer one.

Share your own

Every published experience earns 50 XP, and each of the first 3 likes it receives in a day earns you 10 XP more. Likes must come from established accounts; like-for-like swaps and likes from your own second account are not paid. Write it while the details are fresh — the round order, the exact prompts, and how much time you were given are what the next reader needs.

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