real interview stories, told over a cup of tea ♡
Interview Experiences
3935 interview stories from candidates at 857 companies: how each round went, what was asked and how it ended. Every company page links to practice questions in the same style.
- 3935
- Experiences
- 857
- Companies
- 532
- Offers
3935 results
- Voleon Data Scientist interview with Python modeling and data analysis roundsVoleon · Data Scientist · Technical Screen · Apr 2026
After a recruiter step, I went through an extensive sequence focused on data work and model building. The first technical conversations covered data manipulation and EDA, then moved into modeling. The goal was to see whether I could connect statistical thinking and practical data familiarity to the way I constructed and interpreted models. The process felt thorough rather than trick-based. The qu…
- Voleon Data Scientist live coding interview focused on pandasVoleon · Data Scientist · Apr 2026Rejected
My main interview experience was a live coding session focused on data manipulation in Python, especially pandas. There wasn’t much guidance, and I couldn’t remember every detail afterward, but I clearly remember that I didn’t produce something the interviewer seemed satisfied with. What threw me off was not knowing what level of polish or correctness they expected. I kept building and iterating,…
- Voleon Quantitative Analyst interview: probability, statistics, and machine learningVoleon · Quantitative Analyst · Onsite · Apr 2026
My process started with a phone screen with another PhD, and the conversation was heavily focused on statistics and math. We worked through probability and statistics questions, and I got the sense that the interviewer wasn’t especially enthusiastic about the role. I asked directly and learned that the position wasn’t very flexible. New hires were initially assigned to teams somewhat randomly, an…
- Water-Flow Paths and Good Numbers at OnsiteGoogle · Software Engineer · New Grad · Onsite · Apr 2026
Software Engineer II, Early Career - United States 03/31: Applied 04/01: OA 05/14: Virtual interview R1 — behavioral questions + coding (I don't remember the question) 06/08: Got an email about next steps and scheduled a recruiter meeting 06/15: Talked with the recruiter, got the onsite details 07/14: Onsite interview R2 — coding + coding The R2 onsite questions were: Question 1: Longest Water-Fl…
- Withdrew After a Possible L5A-to-L4 DownlevelUber · Machine Learning Engineer · Senior+ · Technical Screen · Apr 2026Withdrew
I interviewed for a Sr MLE / MLE role. The whole process was pretty short — in the end, after HR indicated I might get downleveled from L5A to L4, I decided not to move forward, so this is basically a withdrawal report. The first round was mainly a project deep dive. It opened with self-introductions, then the interviewer asked me to walk through a recent representative project. I talked about a…
- Zipline Software Engineer interview: seven-round onsite after take-homeZipline · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Apr 2026
The process started with a technical interview with a senior team member and quickly moved into a comprehensive take-home assessment. I felt good after passing that stage, and then I was invited to an intensive onsite at the South San Francisco office. The onsite was the heavy part, with seven distinct rounds covering technical and behavioral topics. The structure showed that they were evaluating…
- Zscaler Software Engineer interview with a 75-minute DSA roundZscaler · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Apr 2026
After an online assessment, I went through pre-interview sessions about Zscaler's journey and the interview process. They helped me understand what the company was looking for and what the next steps would feel like. The technical interview lasted about 75 minutes and focused mainly on medium-level DSA and problem-solving. The interviewer was genuinely friendly, which helped me think more clearly…
- Zscaler Software Engineer interview with three to four DSA questionsZscaler · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Apr 2026
I was asked to take a coding test, and it ended up having roughly three to four questions. The main topics were the DSA areas I expected, including graphs, dynamic programming, and trees. I was also able to choose the language I wanted from Python, Java, or C++. I didn't get an offer, but the experience felt like an average-difficulty coding screen rather than something unusually tricky or obscur…
- Zscaler Software Engineer interview: DSA, OOPs, DBMS, and C++Zscaler · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Apr 2026
My process was compact. I had one technical interview followed by a project round. The technical discussion included an hour of general discussion and then two DSA questions. We also covered basic OOPs, database management system topics, and C++ fundamentals. The overall level felt easy, and the structure didn't overwhelm me with too many moving parts. I still didn't receive an offer. My lingerin…
- Zscaler Software Engineer interview: four DSA questions in an online assessmentZscaler · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Apr 2026
I went through an online assessment with four DSA questions covering easy, medium, hard, and more complex material. It felt like a filter: if I cleared that set, I'd move on to a video call. The process was tied to an off-campus program for the 2027 batch, so it felt structured around moving candidates through a pipeline rather than having a deep back-and-forth interview. I completed the set but…
- 2027 OA, Two Problems in 75 MinutesCitadel · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026
There were two problems, with 75 minutes in total. First problem: Given an initial work schedule for n days, an employee earns a fixed amount for each working day. If the previous day was also a working day, the employee earns an additional bonus. The employee may change at most k days off into working days, but may not change a working day into a day off. The goal is to choose which days off to…
- A 75-Minute Causal Inference OA That Left Me GuessingNetflix · Data Scientist · Intern · Online Assessment · Mar 2026No response
New here, and internships are so hard to find. This is the second OA I've gotten after countless mass applications, and long story short, it's been two weeks with no response so I'm assuming it's dead. The whole thing was about 75 minutes and had to be completed within a week. First there were two coding questions, and you could use Python or R — both coding questions were under the same setting.…
- A Deploy-Under-200ms Deep DiveXometry · Machine Learning Engineer · Senior+ · Technical Screen · Mar 2026
Company: Xometry (March) Round: Round 1 Position: Lead ML Questions/format: 1) Walk through your background and your projects in detail 2) The DS team handed you a model — if you had to deploy it, the requirement is that a single inference call has to come in under 200ms 1) Key points for talking about project background Project goal: the business problem you're solving, and the evaluation metric…
- A Four-Round Power Day OnsiteCapital One · Data Scientist · Onsite · Mar 2026
Timeline & Full Process Online application / referral -> Recruiter Screen (15-20 min) -> OA (Assessment): you can check other posts on the forum for what this looks like -> Power Day: four rounds back to back, 45-60 minutes each. Power Day Breakdown Round 1: Case Interview (Business Analyst Case) Scenario: you're given a concrete credit business scenario (for example, a credit-limit-increase stra…
- A Greedy String-Parity Coding ProblemDRW · Software Engineer · New Grad · Other · Mar 2026
I ran into a greedy string problem. Given a string digits made up only of the characters '1' and '2', representing a positive integer, you can delete zero or more characters. After deleting, the requirements are: The remaining '1's must appear an even number of times. The remaining '2's must also appear an even number of times. Subject to those two conditions, the resulting integer should be as l…
- A Reorganization Delay and Onsite RejectionApple · Accessories Software QA Engineer · New Grad · Onsite · Mar 2026Rejected
In the first interview, I talked with HR about the role being in San Diego and confirmed that the role would sponsor my OPT. In the second interview, I talked with the hiring manager about my previous QA projects. [I'd done a year as a QA intern and had basically done all the full-time work once already.] Then I was ghosted for three weeks. After that, they called me back and said a reorganizatio…
- Accessories Team and a Final Coding RejectionApple · Software QA Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026Rejected
HR phone screen: Some questions about my immigration status. They pointed out that the job had to be onsite in San Diego, though the interviews could take place in Cupertino. The second round was with the hiring manager. We discussed my current work and projects, then my previous QA experience: benchmarking and regression, reducing the false-failure rate, optimizing HPC resource usage, and reduci…
- All-English First Round, No Behavioral QuestionsGoogle · Software Engineer · Intern · Technical Screen · Mar 2026No response
I'm based in the US, so they set me up with an interviewer for this one, all in English. No behavioral questions, no self-introduction, straight into problems. Given a string input, return true if every subsequence of length ≥ 3 is a valid English word. I used a recursive approach and walked through the time and space complexity. Given a string input, return true if every subsequence of length ≥…
- An 11-Minute Late Start, a Chaotic Round, and a Recruiter SwapRippling · Software Engineer · Senior+ · Technical Screen · Mar 2026Rejected
The interviewer was 11 minutes late. I was actually about to just leave the call and email the recruiter to say they were a no-show, but they showed up at the very last moment. After joining, there was no intro or behavioral portion at all — they went straight into technical. Right off the bat they asked whether I wanted an AI or non-AI technical round, and I picked non-AI. Then the interviewer j…
- An AI-Assisted Coding Round on Poker Hand ComparisonsRippling · Software Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026
Continuing from my last post. Round 1 One of the interviewers asked upfront whether I wanted the AI-assisted question or the non-AI one. I picked AI. Question 1 The problem was similar to comparing two poker hands: you're given a bunch of rules for ranking hands, the input is two string arrays, and the output is user1 or user2. I started by stating a few assumptions and clarifications, then analy…
- Asana Software Engineer interview with a specific systems modeling problemAsana · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Mar 2026Rejected
The overall experience felt professional, and most of the rounds ran cleanly. One interviewer came across as standoffish, which threw me off more than anything technical, but the logistics and tone were mostly well handled. The part I struggled with was the systems interview. It involved a very specific modeling problem that didn't resemble the general patterns I expected. Unless I'd previously b…
- Asana Software Engineer interview: CodeSignal, coding round, and onsiteAsana · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026Rejected
The process started with a CodeSignal assessment, followed by a dedicated coding round. After that, I attended an onsite that included system design and a behavioral interview, all in a fairly standard sequence. The questions leaned toward LeetCode, but they didn't feel too extreme. Many covered the kinds of problems I could find online with the right search terms. I didn't move forward, although…
- Asana Software Engineer interview: six-step Salesforce-focused processAsana · Software Engineer · Mar 2026
My interviews followed a longer, structured process with six steps and plenty of feedback between rounds. Everyone I spoke with was professional and attentive, and the process never felt chaotic or improvised. The technical portion was for a role related to Salesforce development. The topics were what I expected: async processes, bulkification, trigger contexts, and the relevant syntax. The round…
- ASML Software Engineer interview: HireVue screening on experience, company knowledge, and logisticsASML · Software Engineer · Other · Mar 2026
After applying, I was contacted and moved into an AI interview on the HireVue platform. The prompts were fairly broad. They covered my experience in the role, what I knew about ASML, and logistical considerations. The questions were clear enough, but I didn't progress beyond that stage. I came away feeling that the screening was designed to cast a wide net rather than explore any particular techn…
- Aurora Innovation Cloud Engineer interview, C++ and system designAurora Innovation · Cloud Engineer · Technical Screen · Mar 2026
After connecting through the recruiter, I moved through a structured process: a recruiter call followed by technical discussions, system design, and coding. The recruiter and interviewers kept the tone comfortable, and I felt they were genuinely interested in how I’d approach realistic work scenarios instead of searching for one exact answer. The onsite lasted a few hours and included several tec…
- Boeing Frontend Engineer interview, Korean and English technical sessionsBoeing · Frontend Engineer · Technical Screen · Mar 2026Offer
My interview was split into two technical segments with different interviewers. First, I had a 30-minute technical interview in Korean with three engineers. Then I had another 30-minute technical session in English with two hiring managers. The overall atmosphere felt comfortable, and the technical questions were mostly based on what I'd put on my resume. Because the questions were tied closely t…
- Bombed Algorithmic Coding, Got a Retry and Reached Team MatchMeta · Software Engineer · Senior+ · Onsite · Mar 2026In progress
Background A recruiter cold-emailed me about an E5 position at Meta two years ago. I was already half-looking to leave my job, so I went for it. I made it to the last round, but the product architecture round and one of the coding rounds went badly for me. I'm back this time because layoffs look likely where I work now, and I wanted to prepare differently. My prep came down to three things: an on…
- Box Software Engineer interview: React todo list and full-stack tasksBox · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Mar 2026
My early Box process felt smooth and organized. I started with a recruiter screening where I introduced myself, walked through my job history, and shared my expectations for the role. The recruiter was understanding and helpful, and answered my questions as they came up. The technical part moved into practical frontend work. I fixed a dropdown implementation on the frontend and then built a simpl…
- BQ, ML Domain, and a Mahjong-Winning-Hand Coding QuestionGoogle · Software Engineer · New Grad · Onsite · Mar 2026In progress
Timeline: 2025/12/23: HR reached out and asked me to send my latest transcript. 2026/01/05: Another HR emailed to set up a brief chat. 2026/01/14: HR chat — mainly asked about my research area and explained the interview format. They said it's basically one BQ round plus three coding rounds, or one BQ round plus one ML domain round plus two coding rounds, split into two big loops. I chose one BQ…
- Building a Dasher Payout APIDoorDash · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Mar 2026
I received the Code Craft task as a Dasher payout calculation API problem. Dasher Payout Calculation API Overview The prompt said that, as part of a migration from a monolith to a microservice architecture, the team was building a new Payments Service. My task was to implement the Dasher payout logic, which required calling an upstream dependency to retrieve the relevant data. Goal Create this en…
