Interview Experiences

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

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4437 stories

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ChimeSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Chime Software Engineer interview: basic SQL without window functions

I interviewed for a data engineering-oriented SDE role where the questions were unusually basic. They focused on my past work and simpler algorithm and SQL knowledge. The recruiter screen covered my background and how it matched the role. The technical portion covered SQL and algorithms. The SQL questions were very basic and explicitly did not include window functions. The algorithm problems lean…

HR Screen0
IMCSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

IMC Software Engineer interview with a two-question online assessment

I started with an online assessment containing two questions. The first was harder and reminded me of common LeetCode-style problems, especially arrays and lists before moving toward trees and similar topics. I spent time aligning my practice with that structure, and I remember thinking it was the kind of round where knowing the patterns mattered. I hadn't started the live interviews yet, but the…

RejectedOnline Assessment0
AirtableCustomer Success Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Airtable Customer Success Engineer interview: scripted questions and unclear system prompts

The process started well. The recruiter seemed organized, and I was excited about the opportunity. Once I reached the interviews, though, it became difficult to take the process seriously. In one session, I was put on hold immediately. The recruiter then read questions from a script without much back and forth, and I didn't feel the interviewer was genuinely engaged with my background. The hiring…

RejectedOther0
GustoSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Gusto Software Engineer interview with timed LeetCode medium assessment

The process felt straightforward and predictable. After applying, I completed an online assessment, followed by a technical interview focused on a LeetCode medium problem. The process then moved toward an offer decision. The online assessment was the difficult part. One question was relatively easy, but after that I essentially had to produce a perfect coding solution without debugging, all withi…

Online Assessment0
TwitchBackend Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Twitch Backend Engineer interview with AWS system design prompts

I interviewed at Twitch for a Software Engineer role. The process felt challenging and deliberate over roughly a few weeks, with a testing approach that was more distinctive and less focused on standard LeetCode problems. It started with a timed coding assignment. After that, I had a recruiter phone call, followed by a hiring manager discussion as the second phase. The technical testing used ques…

Online Assessment0
OuraSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Oura Software Engineer interview with a missed technical interview and delays

A lot of my experience came down to reliability. I started with an HR conversation that went fine, then waited for a technical interview that never happened. After the interviewer didn't show, I followed up but received no real response or explanation. The lack of communication felt disrespectful because I'd set aside time and built expectations around the meeting. Scheduling caused more problems…

HR Screen0
Rocket LabSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Rocket Lab Software Engineer interview: large take-home project

My process was fairly condensed and involved only a few steps. I had a screening call, followed by a take-home project and a technical interview with the team to discuss what I had submitted. The take-home wasn't a nightmare, but it was on the larger side for an interview assignment. The technical discussion focused on clarifying the work and talking through what I had built. There wasn't much ra…

Take-home Project0
Oura RingSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Oura Ring Software Engineer interview where the director did not show

My first round went well. It was an HR conversation, and everything felt smooth and successful. After that, I was scheduled for a technical interview with a director, but the interviewer never showed up. When I followed up, I received no response or explanation for the missed meeting. That was the main problem for me. The interview had been scheduled, I had set aside the time, and then it seemed…

HR Screen0
NavanAccount Executive
Reported Oct 2025

Navan Account Executive two-slide client case presentation

My interview process combined live discussions with a final case exercise. I started with an HR conversation, then met with the team and had additional conversations with managers. People were engaged, and the discussions focused on how I thought through situations. The main challenge was a case round. I had to write a client-style response and then present Navan using two slides. I had to turn t…

HR Screen0
Aurora InnovationSoftware Engineer
Reported Oct 2025

Aurora Innovation Software Engineer interview: DSA round and two coding onsite rounds

I went through an intensive process that began with a DSA round and continued with several onsite interviews. I remember the onsite as multiple rounds with different evaluators, including two coding rounds and an HR discussion. The interviews weren’t easy. I prepared from the job description because the expectations were clearly tied to the actual responsibilities. The coding rounds and HR conver…

Onsite0
NavanAccount Executive
Reported Oct 2025

Navan Account Executive interview: ranking five accounts in the presentation

My process took long enough to feel intentional and was split across three main stages. It started with a TA team call that served as a screening step, followed by time with a manager. After that, I did a practice cold-call session and then spoke with a director, which made the interview feel more real rather than purely conversational. The final stage was a presentation that brought together wha…

HR Screen0
AirwallexStaff Data ScientistSenior+
Oct 2025

Five Rounds, Rejected After the HM Round

The whole loop was five rounds, and every round felt like leveling up to fight a bigger boss. Round 1: SQL + case The SQL was basically similar to a post I'd seen before — there were some variations in the questions, but the type of question was the same. After the SQL there was a case. The case gives you a credit card approval rate time series from Jan 2013 to Jan 2015. There's a dip in Feb 2013…

RejectedOnsite0
RobinhoodData Scientist
Oct 2025

Sample-Size Math in the Experimentation Round

I've been getting rejected a lot in interviews lately. Today I got another rejection — they said my performance in the experimentation round wasn't good. I felt like I did really well in that round; I covered all the concepts I'd prepared ahead of time. I honestly don't see what was bad about it. For the experimentation round, they asked about the benefits of launching fractional shares and how t…

RejectedOnsite0
ShopifySoftware Engineer
Oct 2025

A Pair Programming Round That Turned Hostile Once Recording Stopped

This one really was a unique interview experience. First, the referral doesn't go to a specific role — the referrer just submits the candidate's resume into their system, and recruiters periodically screen resumes and reach out. Two days after my referrer submitted me, the recruiter emailed to set up an informational chat — just a quick self-introduction and a walkthrough of the hiring process —…

RejectedOnsite0
NetflixSoftware EngineerSenior+
Sep 2025

Ads Team Onsite, Rejected Over System Design Communication

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RejectedOnsiteXP0
Jane StreetFullstack/Frontend Engineer
Sep 2025

Passed the Calculator Screen, Failed the Backend Algo Round

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RejectedTechnical ScreenPremium0
DoorDashData Scientist
Sep 2025

Behavioral Round, Then a Case Study and SQL

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Technical ScreenXP0
EvenUpStaff Data ScientistSenior+
Sep 2025

OA With No IDE, Then a BQ-Only HM Round

The first stage was an OA that took about an hour. It had two parts. The first part was maybe a dozen or so multiple choice questions, covering a lot of ground quickly — there were data processing questions, questions about statistical distributions, and some basic hypothesis testing concepts. There was plenty of time, I think it was 25 minutes for under 15 questions? The second part was rough —…

RejectedOther0
xAISoftware Engineer
Sep 2025

Three Onsite Rounds and a Rate Limiter Curveball

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RejectedOnsitePremium0
xAIMachine Learning Engineer
Sep 2025

Three Tech Rounds in Two Days, Rejected at the Offer Stage

I got a reach-out this September. I'd heard Elon's company pays really well, so I did a phone screen with the company. It was 15 minutes: we introduced ourselves, then they had me walk through how I collected and processed the data for a project on my resume, followed by some questions about how I think about data vs. downstream task impact. We went a bit deeper into some technical questions from…

RejectedOnsite0

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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