Interview Experiences

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

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4433 stories

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DuolingoSoftware Engineer
Reported Dec 2025

Duolingo Software Engineer interview with disputed coding feedback

The recruiter communication set a strange tone from the beginning. When I was eventually rejected, the message said that my code was nonfunctional even though it had passed the tests. That mismatch bothered me because the feedback felt more dismissive than a simple statement that I wasn't a match. The overall atmosphere, from the recruiter to the interviewers, was unpleasant. It felt as though pe…

RejectedOther0
Circle Internet FinancialFrontend Engineer
Reported Dec 2025

Circle Internet Financial Frontend Engineer interview with CodeSignal, system design, and Go

I went through an assessment-heavy process with several technical stages, but I didn't move forward. One path involved a small take-home assessment with two questions. I didn't proceed after that initial stage. Another included a CodeSignal test, followed by a roughly 30-minute recruiter call covering Circle, culture, and crypto-related knowledge. That path continued with a system-design discussi…

Technical Screen0
Drw HoldingsQuantitative Analyst
Reported Dec 2025

Drw Holdings Quantitative Analyst seven-question math test and technical round

I remember the process feeling intense from the start. It began with a timed math test containing seven questions. The limit was about 45 minutes, and the topics included linear algebra, probability, optimization, and brain-teaser-style problems. The questions were difficult and required quick work, so I felt that small mistakes could compound fast. After the initial stage, I had a Zoom technical…

RejectedOther0
DuolingoSoftware Engineer
Reported Dec 2025

Duolingo Software Engineer practical tasks, pair programming, and onsite

The recruiter stage felt unusually clear and human. After a short screening, I was given a set of tasks related to the work itself, and I had to submit both my answers and explanations for the choices I made. They wanted to understand the reasoning behind the work, not only whether something worked. From there, the process used practical formats that resembled engineering work. I had a team-membe…

HR Screen0
OuraSystems Engineer
Reported Dec 2025

Oura Systems Engineer interview with a one-day offer window

I was contacted by a talent scout, and we agreed on a one-hour online interview. A couple of days later, I had a team interview that also lasted about an hour, followed by a final conversation with a team leader. Everyone I spoke with was encouraging and polite. The atmosphere felt supportive rather than intimidating. The process moved surprisingly fast. Within about a week, I was offered the job…

Offer0
AKUNA CAPITALSoftware Engineer
Reported Dec 2025

AKUNA CAPITAL Software Engineer interview, HackerRank OA

My process started with a HackerRank OA focused on implementing business requirements rather than practicing classic algorithms. My version had two questions. One focused on strings and felt fairly direct. The other relied more on object-oriented concepts, which I found harder because I hadn’t practiced that style enough. Even though the difficulty was described as not necessarily algorithmically…

Online Assessment0
NavanSoftware Engineer
Reported Dec 2025

Navan Software Engineer interview with a 20-minute AI round

My first interaction used AI and felt jarringly different from a normal recruiter screen. The timer was set to 20 minutes, and it cut me off exactly at the limit even though I hadn't finished my answer. I remember thinking the pacing punished me more than it tested my actual understanding. I also wished there had been a typical early conversation with a recruiter to provide some context and make…

Other0
WhatnotSoftware Engineer
Reported Dec 2025

Whatnot Software Engineer interview: Karat timing and communication challenges

My first meaningful technical round was a Karat interview that began with a discussion of my project. After that, I had two coding questions to solve. I struggled with the second one and couldn’t get all the test cases to pass, so the session ended with me chasing correctness. In another attempt, the Karat interview went poorly for a different reason. The interviewer explained the problem badly a…

Technical Screen0
MetaData Engineer
Dec 2025

Three VO Rounds (Reel, Car Rental, Carpool) End in an Add-On Interview

I prepared for the VO for a long time, and I still ended up getting an add-on interview — I can accept that outcome. I'm hoping someone kind who's been through an add-on interview can share the question bank!! Will they pull from question types that come up a lot but I wasn't asked, or will they pull from really old questions? I've read a lot of other add-on interview posts and haven't gotten any…

In progressOnsite0
OpenAISoftware Engineer
Dec 2025

Felt Locked In, Rejected the Next Day

Locked — open it to unlock the full story with XP.

RejectedOnsiteXP0
Jane StreetQuantitative TradingIntern
Dec 2025

Three Phone Rounds, All Game Theory

I'll share my experience with the three phone-interview rounds for a quant trading internship at Jane Street's NYC office. Jane Street likes to test with games — no math brainteasers, no algorithms, none of that standard stuff. You don't need to answer fast either; taking a minute or two to think or calculate before giving an answer is completely fine. Round 1: two questions, both original questi…

Technical Screen0
IMCQuantitative TraderIntern
Nov 2025

Betting Strategy and Election Fund Allocation

Q1: Betting game. The setup was a series of matches with their odds and match times. Each group of matches could be treated as independent. I would receive two events, meaning inside information or statistics, and had to decide from each event whether to change my bet on a particular match. I also needed to calculate my profit and loss. During the final review, I had to explain my betting strateg…

Technical Screen0
StripeData Scientist
Nov 2025

The Interviewer Kept Calling It "Terrific," Then Came the Rejection

I got the rejection letter within two days! They said something like: being more precise about this role, which means they sometimes have to reject candidates who are very impressive. I compared emails with a friend and it turns out this line is an old script Stripe likes to reuse. Not sure, but I have a feeling they ultimately wanted someone with a finance background that fits fintech better. I…

RejectedTechnical Screen0
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
StripeData Scientist
Nov 2025

A Case Study on Stripe Capital, Then Rejected

Locked — open it to unlock the full story with XP.

RejectedTechnical ScreenXP0
DoorDashData Scientist
Nov 2025

Recycled SQL Questions and a Biker-Project Case Round

HR screen -> Round 1 30-min SQL round: 4 old/frequently-asked questions, with my basic approach: Q1. Percentage of high frequency customers (order>30) each month. Get cus_id, month, order_count. Group by month, cus; count(distinct case when oc> then cus end)/count(distinct cus) Q2. Customers who ordered the most, excluding high-frequency customers, each month (follow-up: the most frequent custome…

Technical Screen0
AppleSoftware EngineerNew Grad
Nov 2025

Aced Every Round, Rejected at Hiring Committee

The behavioral questions were all situational ones — things like what you'd do if a coworker disappeared and stopped doing their work. But it was all pretty relaxed. The interviewer even said he'd already gathered everything he needed. It felt good overall. Coding round 1 was an intervals problem — similar to one I'd seen in a previous report, where you're given a bunch of [start, end] intervals…

RejectedOnsite0
StripeSoftware Engineer
Nov 2025

Virtual Onsite Coding and Integration Rounds

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In progressOnsiteXP0
SnapchatSoftware Engineer
Nov 2025

Implementing sin(x) by Hand on the Phone Screen

Phone interview with Snapchat. The interviewer was pretty good to talk to — the whole process went well, he gave hints promptly, and he was pretty chatty. I did so-so, I feel like I still need more practice, I stumbled a bit. It started with a self-introduction, then a behavioral question about how to make decisions when the information you have is limited — not hard if you prepare well. The tech…

In progressTechnical Screen0
Point72Quantitative ResearcherIntern
Nov 2025

Auction Theory and a 32-Ball Tournament Puzzle

Hiring process: five rounds total. This was round one. Behavioral Self-introduction Why do you want to do quant? Share the trading strategies you know Talk about your previous relevant internship experience Math questions Question 1: Second-price auction Two people are bidding on an item. Rules: Whoever bids the highest gets the item. The winner doesn't pay their own bid — they pay the other bidd…

Technical 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.

Share your experience to earn XP