Interview Experiences

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

Share yours, earn XP

6 stories

Likes earn the author +10 XP for the first 3 likes each day

Retell AISoftware EngineerSenior+
Oct 2026

15-Minute Intro Call and a 6-Day Work Week

On 9/30 an external recruiter reached out to me about the Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (Mandarin) position at Retell AI. We chatted for about 15 minutes, mostly confirming my background, language, location/work authorization, etc., and then they submitted me to the company. On 10/6 the Retell recruiter scheduled the formal intro call. The intro call was about 15-20 minutes. The recruiter spen…

In progressHR Screen1
Retell AISoftware EngineerNew Grad
Sep 2026

Six-Day Workweek Question and a Two-Level Flight Search OA

I mass-applied about a month ago, got an update a week ago, and dragged my feet on the OA until the deadline before I finally did it. Recruiter interview: right off the bat they asked whether I could accept working six days a week, then it was just some basic questions (project, tech stack, trade-offs). OA: Not hard overall, but there's a lot of text, so you have to actually read it. Implement a…

In progressOnline Assessment0
Retell AISoftware Engineer
Sep 2026

Kafka Partition OOD, Then a Phone Agent Design Rejection

The role I interviewed for is the one in the posting I linked. It doesn't feel like a pure coding job, more like half code and half product. First round was a phone screen. It was an OOD question, something like implementing Kafka's partitions. The problem statement was very long and I spent a long time just reading it. Basically you have to assign each newly arriving message to one of the differ…

RejectedTechnical Screen0
Retell AISoftware Engineer
Aug 2026

Coding a Stack Interpreter in Vim Without AI

A startup that works on voice AI. The first interview was handwritten Python. I used my own IDE and environment, and any AI or AI suggestion was prohibited. At the time, I did not know how to turn off AI inline suggestions in VS Code, so I had no choice but to write everything in Vim. Problem description The problem was to process a string containing numbers and operators. It included +, -, , /,…

RejectedTechnical Screen0
Retell AISoftware Engineer
Jan 2026

No LeetCode, Just System Design for a Call Center

A premium story — unlock it to read the full loop.

Technical ScreenPremium0
Retell AISoftware Engineer
Nov 2025

Phone Screen, Four Onsite Rounds, and a Founder Who Muted Himself

Their HR seems to be outsourced to some third party — they were actually pretty enthusiastic though. Phone screen: coding. Onsite: four rounds. Round 1 was practical coding, I don't even remember what exactly it was anymore. They allowed using AI for code gen. Round 2 was also practical coding, the problem was pretty long and I don't remember the details either. All I remember is that you had to…

Onsite0

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.

Share your experience to earn XP