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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Lucid MotorsSoftware Engineer
Reported Nov 2024

Lucid Motors Software Engineer interview: functional safety concerns and a month-long recruiter delay

Early on, the process seemed to be moving, but the ending was abrupt and frustrating. I interviewed for a functional safety team and asked about the team. The response wasn't very clear, which made me uneasy. When I looked into it, I noticed that people didn't seem to stay in the role for long. That felt like a red flag, so I decided not to continue after the hiring manager conversation. Separate…

HR Screen0
VisaProduct Manager
Oct 2024

Recruiter Says Passing Round One Doesn't Guarantee a Second Interview

10/10 phone screen with Visa. At the start, the recruiter first confirmed my visa type, whether I need sponsorship, whether I could do hybrid at least two days a week, and confirmed there's no relocation sponsorship — then the actual questions started. Tell me about yourself Why do you want to apply for this position How do you make the product roadmap — tell me about your experience working on a…

In progressTechnical Screen0
ByteDanceProduct Manager
Oct 2024

Passed Every Round Within 3 Hours, Skip-Level Manager Round Next

New here, sharing my fresh interview experience from the last few days. Gotta say, ByteDance's efficiency is really something — for every round, I got notified I passed just 3 hours after the interview ended. Want to ask everyone on the forum: what should I watch out for in the +2 skip-level manager interview? Product Manager round (very short, ~15 min questions) Self-introduction My most success…

In progressTechnical Screen0
SquarespaceData ScientistSenior+
Oct 2024

A Take-Home on Predicting Seller Intent

Timeline & standard rounds The whole process ran from mid-November to mid-December, about a month. Round 1: Recruiter Screen (30 minutes) Standard behavioral questions and background introduction. Round 2: HM Screen (30 minutes) Talked with a Software Engineering Manager. Mainly dug into past project experience, cross-team collaboration experience, and assessed culture fit. Round 3: Technical int…

Onsite0
Notion LabsSolutions Engineer
Reported Sep 2024

Notion Labs Solutions Engineer onsite and presentation

My process had enough moving pieces to feel like a real campaign rather than just a couple of interviews. I started with recruiter and early screens that were fairly organized. The recruiter prepared me and kept me updated, even when the schedule slowed down because people were out of the office. After the onsite, there was an additional leadership conversation and reference checks, and the recru…

HR Screen0
Trexquant InvestmentQuantitative Analyst
Reported Aug 2024

Trexquant Investment Quantitative Analyst interview: week-long Python assessment

My first step was a week-long Python coding assessment. It was essentially one algorithmic problem that I had to solve in code. Compared with the effort people often describe for roles like this, it felt one-dimensional. Honestly, it seemed to test little beyond whether I could get through the task quickly. After that, I reached what felt like the real interview stage and eventually had a convers…

Online Assessment0
Capital OneProduct Analyst
Jul 2024

A Recruiter Who Forgot They Recruited Me

In early July, a recruiter reached out to me proactively on LinkedIn, asking if I was interested, and said that if I was, they wanted to talk to me as soon as possible, as soon as possible, as soon as possible. I said sure, and figured the day after next would work. They vanished. Four or five days later, at 6pm, they called me directly out of nowhere (probably because my LinkedIn settings let re…

In progressHR Screen0
Walmart LabsProduct ManagerIntern
Jul 2024

Two Behavioral Rounds and a Messy Hiring Process

Hi everyone, hope you're doing well this winter. This is my second post — sharing my interview experience for the Walmart PM Intern position. It seems like there aren't many PM intern write-ups on the forum, let alone for Walmart, so I hope this helps. Interview Experience Timeline: I submitted my resume in mid-October -> got the OA right after submitting -> was notified in late October to schedu…

RejectedTechnical Screen0
Chainlink LabsSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2024

Chainlink Labs Software Engineer, NDA and lengthy take-home process

From the beginning, what stood out was how much time the process required outside the live interviews. I signed an NDA, and at least part of the coding challenge involved a third party. The recruiter was supportive, and the structure sounded transparent, but the later stages made it clear how much of the burden was on me. The biggest surprise was the take-home work. One round was described as pot…

Take-home Project0
Circle Internet FinancialSoftware Engineer
Reported Jul 2024

Circle Internet Financial Software Engineer: pairing directions wasted time

I went through a recruiter and assessment process followed by design, coding, pairing, and behavioral interviews. In the pair-programming portion, I felt the interviewer gave partially incorrect directions, which wasted a large part of the time. After CodeSignal, I had a behavioral and fit round. We discussed what interested me in Circle, my projects, and how I acted under pressure rather than te…

RejectedOnline Assessment0
ZiplineSoftware Engineer
Reported Jun 2024

Zipline Software Engineer interview rejected over manufacturing experience

I started with a recruiter call that was genuinely pleasant. She walked me through the process and answered my questions thoroughly. The next round was with the hiring manager, and I felt that went well too. After that, the timeline became exhausting. I followed up for two weeks and then received a rejection. They said I lacked experience with manufacturing and maintenance software. What bothered…

RejectedHR Screen0
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
Trexquant InvestmentQuantitative Analyst
Reported Jun 2024

Trexquant Investment Quantitative Analyst interview with one Python challenge

The interview process felt streamlined and medium in difficulty. Much of it focused on my background. They asked many questions about my resume and went deeper into what I’d done. The main technical step was one Python coding challenge. It wasn’t a multi-week ordeal, just a single challenge, and it didn’t feel unusually hard. My impression was that they wanted to see whether I could connect my re…

0
AmazonProduct Manager
May 2024

Untimed OA Then an HM Phone Screen on Delivery-Driver Metrics

Sharing my hiring-manager phone screen. I mass-applied to non-tech positions at Amazon, and the recruiter emailed pretty quickly to schedule an OA. After passing the OA, there was a 45-60 minute phone screen with the HM. The OA was a work simulation and work style assessment — there were videos and emails simulating a typical work environment, and it wasn't timed! So just relax and take your time…

In progressTechnical Screen0
BrexFrontend Engineer
Reported May 2024

Brex Frontend Engineer interview with interrupted live coding

I started with an interview that felt straightforward and respectful, and the recruiter seemed involved and supportive. Then I moved into a technical coding interview where the interviewer repeatedly required me to talk while coding. I found that counterproductive. The constant interruptions made it easy to lose focus and added anxiety to an already stressful live coding environment. I was trying…

RejectedTechnical Screen0
RemitlyFrontend Engineer
Reported May 2024

Remitly Frontend Engineer interview with a timed Canditech assessment

The process started with a recruiter screen, followed by a timed assessment on Canditech that lasted about an hour. The structure was rigid. Each section had its own time limit, and once I finished one, I couldn't return to it. There was no way to practice or get familiar with the platform beforehand, which made the pacing more stressful. I got thrown off immediately because I initially saw only…

HR Screen0
Trexquant InvestmentQuantitative Analyst
Reported May 2024

Trexquant Investment Quantitative Analyst interview: Hangman ML project

I started with the Hangman project, which was also mentioned as one of the stages other people had gone through for this company. It was a take-home coding challenge focused on improving the model's guessing performance. Later, the interviewer asked me directly how I'd make it better. After that, I discussed the project with an interviewer. The conversation was strongly focused on machine learnin…

Take-home Project0
AMDSoftware Engineer
Apr 2024

Three Video Rounds on Verification and PCIe

I'm based in Vancouver, Canada, and wanted to share my AMD interview experience from back then. I moved to AMD in 2022 from another chip company. The Vancouver site didn't have an office yet at the time, so the whole process was video interviews. There were 3 rounds in total, 2 of them technical, each about 1 hour. Overall it was mostly Verification plus the PCIe protocol. On the Verification sid…

OfferTechnical Screen0
ZiplineSoftware Engineer
Reported Apr 2024

Zipline Software Engineer interview: Rust or C++20 take-home and automation panel

I entered the process through LinkedIn, then had a short recruiter call followed by a brief conversation with the hiring manager about my past experience. Next came a take-home assignment in either Rust or C++20, which took me a little over two hours. My impression was that they cared more about whether the solution worked than about polish such as code quality or tests. After that, I had a rough…

Take-home Project0
Notion LabsSolutions Engineer
Reported Apr 2024

Notion Labs Solutions Engineer interview with a take-home project and panel demo

My process started with a recruiter and then moved through several formal, time-consuming technical steps. I had a hiring manager screen, a conversation with a teammate, and an extensive take-home project that ended with a panel demo. There was also an interview with the sales team. After I submitted everything, I was told I'd hear back within a few days. Instead, communication stalled. I eventua…

RejectedTechnical 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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