Interview Experiences

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

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7 stories

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UpstartData Scientist
Reported Jul 2026

Upstart Data Scientist interview: fast-paced statistics and probability questions

After the recruiter screen, I was told the hiring-manager interview would be a straightforward conversation with one technical question at the end. Instead, brief introductions led into deep theoretical statistics and difficult mental math. The interviewer moved extremely fast. When I was unsure or interpreted something differently, I didn't feel I received enough clarification to get back on tra…

HR Screen0
UpstartData ScientistSenior+
Feb 2026

A Statistics-Heavy Hiring Manager Screen

In Q4 2024, a recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn about a staff DS role at their company. After a short conversation, we scheduled a one-hour phone screen with the hiring manager (an ML Applications Director). After a brief self-introduction, we moved into the first part. He asked me to walk him through a project where I needed to measure impact but couldn't launch an experiment. I described…

In progressTechnical Screen0
UpstartData ScientistIntern
Dec 2025

Same Questions Recycled Between Rounds

Overall, the experience was pretty good. The HR person and the few interviewers I dealt with were all really supportive — nobody looked down on international candidates. There was no HR screen — I went straight into the first-round tech interview. The interviewer didn't even ask about my resume; we did a quick self-introduction and then went straight into the questions. The questions were: An ato…

OfferOnsite0
UpstartData Scientist
Nov 2025

One Tech Screen, a Two-Round Virtual Onsite, and an Offer a Week Later

Overall the experience was quite good — the HR person and the several interviewers I dealt with were all very supportive, and none of them looked down on international candidates. There was no HR screen; I went straight into the first technical round. The interviewer didn't ask about my resume at all at first — just had me do a quick self-introduction and then went straight into questions. The qu…

OfferOnsite0
UpstartData ScientistSenior+
Oct 2025

Two Interviews Years Apart, Same Clash With the Interviewer

I applied to this company years ago, right after graduation, and it felt like neither I nor the phone-screen interviewer were really into each other. Fast forward many years, and this time the HR screen and phone screen actually went well at first — but the virtual onsite took me right back to those days. I ran into another interviewer where, again, neither of us was really into the other. That s…

Onsite0
UpstartData Scientist
Oct 2025

SQL Screen Then a Four-Round Onsite Full of Case Studies

Three SQL questions, no need to actually run the query. There's a marketing table (by marketing_touch), and another one is a conversion table. The first question is to calculate avg count by month. The second is to find the last touch before conversion, by company (or by month, I don't quite remember). The third is: conversion and last touch both happened in some particular month, and how many co…

Onsite0
UpstartData ScientistSenior+
Dec 2024

A Hardcore Stats Screen With the Hiring Manager

In Q4 2024 a recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn about a staff DS role at their company. After a quick chat we scheduled a one-hour screen with the Hiring Manager (the ML Applications Director). After a short self-introduction we got into the first part. He asked me to walk him through a project at work where I needed to measure impact but couldn't launch an experiment. I gave him the backgro…

In progressTechnical Screen0

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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