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.
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3935 results
- Four Rounds Ending with a Bar RaiserAmazon · Software Engineer · New Grad · Technical Screen · Mar 2026
round 1: behavioral questions + coding Behavioral questions: a time you made a decision with incomplete information; a time you disagreed with a teammate or your manager and how you handled it Coding: Given an array of strings, group together all words that are anagrams of each other and return the groups. The interviewer also asked me not to use the O(n·k log k) approach with sorted signatures.…
- Garmin Software Engineer interview with DSA and project discussionsGarmin · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Mar 2026
I went through a fairly standard, multi-round software and DSA process over a couple of weeks. It included mostly resume and project discussion, along with one or more light to moderate technical assessments. The recruiter screen lasted about 20 to 45 minutes and focused on my background, why I wanted to work at Garmin, and a few behavioral prompts. In the remote technical interview, which took p…
- Garmin Software Engineer interview: career-fair concepts and electronics checksGarmin · Software Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026
I interviewed in formats that felt less like a traditional software interview and more like career-fair conversations or quick technical assessments. Some sessions were brief but focused heavily on concepts. At the career fair, I had a general conversation about my resume followed by technical concept questions. The interviewer asked whether I knew specific ideas. After that initial discussion, I…
- Glean (CA) Software Engineer: practical coding and system design onsiteGlean (CA) · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Mar 2026
A recruiter reached out to me, and the first technical screening round involved a middle-to-hard LeetCode-style problem. After that, I moved into an onsite loop with three rounds: two coding rounds and one system design round. One coding round involved another LeetCode-style problem. The other was more open-ended and practical. I spent most of the time coding while the interviewer checked in only…
- Glean (CA) Solutions Engineer hiring manager interview rescheduledGlean (CA) · Solutions Engineer · Other · Mar 2026
My process started well. The team was responsive early on, and after the initial setup, everything seemed to move smoothly. During the hiring manager portion, though, the interviewer joined about 55 minutes late, which forced a reschedule. I completed the interview after that, but then I never really heard back from the recruiter or hiring manager. I followed up multiple times and received no sta…
- Grammarly Software Engineer four-question coding assessmentGrammarly · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026Offer
My interview process started before I spoke with any engineers. I submitted an application and completed coding assessments with four questions, followed by an HR phone screen. After that, the process focused heavily on live, timed problem solving. I had two live coding rounds. One used LeetCode-style questions, and the other involved solving an actual problem from beginning to end. After the cod…
- Grammarly Software Engineer interview: backend coding and team matchGrammarly · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Mar 2026Offer
I started with a recruiter screen, then moved into CS fundamentals and a backend coding interview. I also presented my projects before going through team-match conversations. The process felt well organized and clearly communicated. My recruiter kept me grounded by proactively sharing detailed information about each stage. The technical interviews were challenging but fair. I could tell they care…
- Graph Code Review, Dijkstra, and a Multithreaded System MonitorPalantir · Software Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026
This company isn't that hard — it's basically all repeat questions from previous write-ups on this forum. If you go through the compiled experiences here, you'll run into the exact same problems. Phone screen. Onsite 1 had three technical rounds. Each one also asked some behavioral questions and asked about the projects on my resume. Coding round: a stock question from this forum, exactly the sam…
- HR Downgrades the Role, Then an OOD Recommendation EngineStubHub · Fullstack Software Engineer II · Senior+ · Onsite · Mar 2026
Position: Fullstack Software Engineer II Experience: 7 years YOE Interview with HR: First I had a call with HR, who mostly talked up how small the company is, how big each engineer's scope is, and how they acquired Viagogo in Europe and are working hard to expand. Then they asked me to walk through a project I'd led before. I had originally applied for a Sr. SDE role — I have 7 years of experienc…
- HubSpot Software Engineer interview: banking-system assessment and system design roundsHubSpot · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026Rejected
My process started with a coding assessment under tight constraints. The time pressure felt real, and the tasks were divided into multiple levels. Each level opened only after I completed the previous one. I didn't get through all the levels. The prompt involved designing a banking system, so it went beyond standard LeetCode mechanics. In another attempt, the CodeSignal online assessment was also…
- HubSpot Software Engineer interview: final rounds canceled within three hoursHubSpot · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026Rejected
My experience started normally. I completed an OA built around an HTTP GET style prompt, then was scheduled for a behavioral step and final rounds. While I was waiting, I even spoke with someone internally because I was trying to understand what was happening. The final-round day still feels unreal. They scheduled me for the end-stage interviews and then canceled them less than three hours later.…
- HubSpot Solutions Engineer interview: recruiter screens and delayed follow-upHubSpot · Solutions Engineer · HR Screen · Mar 2026Rejected
I barely got started. I sent in my CV and had a first interview scheduled, but the call itself was extremely brief and felt oddly disconnected from what I expected. It ended quickly, and I got the impression that their compensation expectations were far below market. The fit just didn't seem to take hold. In another recruiter screening, I was told I'd move forward after the call, but the follow-u…
- IMC Software Engineer interview with graph and scheduling assessmentsIMC · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026
After I applied, I was asked to complete two online assessments, both focused on programming-style problem solving. One centered on graphs, and the other covered scheduling. A short time later, I moved to a one-way online interview with three questions. They were technical and focused heavily on how I think about programming languages and core data structures. The format was straightforward, but…
- Klaviyo Account Executive: repeated reschedules, missing Zoom details, and unanswered follow-upsKlaviyo · Account Executive · Other · Mar 2026No response
What stood out in my experience wasn't the interview questions. It was the communication and follow-through. I started with an initial recruiter interaction and then moved into later conversations, but the process felt inconsistent across several stages. There were short-notice reschedules, people who didn't show up, and rounds that started late without much explanation. The logistics also broke…
- L3 Offer on the First Attempt, DSA Rounds OnlyGoogle · Software Engineer · Other · Mar 2026Offer
Right now I lead tech at a small maritime startup. Google gave me an L3 offer, toward the upper end of the band, and it was my first and only try. Real system design was always my weakest area, even though I've always been decent at generalizing from specifics. Studying it properly left me calm and self-assured when the conversation turned to: how to scale reads or writes, and what each approach…
- Lucid Motors Software Engineer interview: 30-minute screen, CoderPad, and four-hour loopLucid Motors · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Mar 2026Offer
The structure of the process stood out to me. It began with a 30-minute screening call, followed by a 45-minute technical interview that included a CoderPad coding challenge. The final stage was a long, intensive loop that lasted about four hours. It focused on technical depth, problem-solving, and overall fit, and it was the most concentrated part of the process. I remember finishing the loop fe…
- Lucid Motors Software Engineer interview: C++, sensors, and Nvidia SoCsLucid Motors · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Mar 2026
My first contact was a fit conversation with the hiring manager, and it quickly set the tone for the rest of the loop. After that, I had interviews with several people. The discussions focused mostly on my C++ experience and how I had worked with sensors and Nvidia SoCs. Coding questions were mixed in, so the process wasn’t purely based on experience. What made the experience difficult was how ab…
- Mercor Software Engineer interview through an adaptive AI platformMercor · Software Engineer · Other · Mar 2026
My interview took place entirely through an AI platform. It asked questions based on what I submitted and how that information aligned with the job description. Instead of typing answers, I recorded live audio and video responses while the AI monitored me. The most important thing for me was keeping my answers consistent with what I had already told it about my background. The AI kept tying its q…
- Mercor Software Engineer interview with a rushed interview and a no-showMercor · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026
My application moved quickly at first and then ended without much closure. After speaking with a recruiter and taking an online assessment, I submitted my solution and received a denial about two weeks later. The experience was okay overall, but I never got any feedback, so I couldn't tell what went wrong. Later, I had a separate and more upsetting experience. I was rejected after a very brief in…
- Mercor Software Engineer interview with an Apple Silicon compatibility checkMercor · Software Engineer · Mar 2026
The interview was conducted by an AI agent, and I could complete it by phone or computer. The process itself was fairly straightforward, with the AI asking questions based on my submissions. The problem came with the compatibility check in the middle of the process. They specifically checked whether I was using Apple Silicon Macs. That felt like a major miss to me because the tools I needed weren…
- Navan Account Executive interview with informal-first structure and vibe fitNavan · Account Executive · HR Screen · Mar 2026
My first step was a recruiter screening call that became one of the most discouraging conversations I'd had. The interviewer's delivery felt oddly automated, as if my answers weren't being heard. I'd finish a response, and they would immediately move to the next question without any reaction or follow-up. The whole thing felt pointless. The same problem showed up differently as I moved into what…
- Notion Labs Solutions Engineer interview: technical screen and months without closureNotion Labs · Solutions Engineer · HR Screen · Mar 2026No response
I went into the process expecting something simple and informative. It started with a recruiter screen covering the usual background questions, my timeline, and my interest in Notion. The recruiter was straightforward and explained how the process worked. I was told I'd hear back quickly, but after that conversation I kept waiting. Silence became the main pattern after the early stages. I later r…
- OA in April, Offer After Four VO Rounds in JulyAmazon · Software Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026Offer
Mass-applied at the end of January. Got the OA at the end of April: Coding question 1: there's an original version of this on the forum — a circular array of drone destinations (first and last connected end to end), find the shortest path. Coding question 2: AI debug. I picked Java. The problem was an actor + movie website. Roughly the functionality: users can follow actors, and an admin can add…
- OA, a Python LRU Cache Phone Screen, and Rejection After a Full OnsiteAnthropic · Software Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026Rejected
Posting my Anthropic interview from a while back. I felt like I nailed everything. The culture round and the hiring manager round also went okay. In the end I still didn't pass. It feels way too arbitrary. (Maybe my background just wasn't a great match — I was interviewing for a billing platform team, but I've never worked on payments.) OA - recipe manager Phone screen - coding Q2 - LRU cache, th…
- OA, Phone Screen, Four Onsite Rounds, Then a Final Manager ChatAmplitude · Software Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026
OA: Write a function to validate a group of employees according to a set of rules. Each employee can have a group of sub-employees under them, so each sub-employee also needs to be validated. Phone Screen: Add a new rule to the code from the OA, to validate whether there is a cycle in the employee list. Onsite (4 rounds): Implement a Snake game. Need to handle keyboard input (up/down/left/right m…
- Online Assessment with a Balanced-Window and Monotonic-Stack ProblemMicrosoft · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Mar 2026
Q1 — problem You're given a permutation p of length n. For each k (1 ≤ k ≤ n), determine whether there's a contiguous subarray that is exactly a permutation of the numbers 1 through k (order doesn't matter). If one exists, call k "balanced." The final output is a length-n binary string, where the k-th digit says whether k is balanced. Q1 — approach The key isn't to enumerate subarrays — it's to f…
- Onsite Loop with a 1-on-1 Chat System Design, File Dedup Coding, and a Culture Round I Couldn't ReadAnthropic · Software Engineer · Onsite · Mar 2026In progress
The phone screen was Q1 image processing — using PIL to do grayscale, scale, and resize. The first step handled small images, the second step handled large images, and improving performance meant using ProcessPoolExecutor. The recruiter had mentioned beforehand that I should be comfortable with parallelism/concurrency, which was basically a hint. Time was a bit tight and the interviewer had to nu…
- Oura Backend Engineer interview with architecture, coding, and take-home roundsOura · Backend Engineer · HR Screen · Mar 2026Offer
After I applied, I had an initial recruiter conversation about the role and my background. The recruiter explained clearly what the overall process would look like. A week or two later, I had a system architecture discussion with a team member. It felt structured and intentional. After that, I interviewed with the hiring manager. The process then became more practical. I did live coding with the…
- Phone Screen Then a Live-Coding Tech RoundMorgan Stanley · Data Scientist · Technical Screen · Mar 2026In progress
Phone screen: they asked me a simple Python question, then a statistics question, and then a Black-Scholes model question (I passed). The next round was the tech interview, covering Gen AI and statistics questions. They told me to have paper and pen ready, and said they'd also ask me Python coding, and possibly a stress testing framework question. The interview started with Gen AI — they asked me…
- Plaid Customer Success Engineer take-home with client-style scenariosPlaid · Customer Success Engineer · Take-home Project · Mar 2026Rejected
My process started with a take-home technical assessment. It wasn’t a complex coding task. Instead, it involved real-life, client-style scenarios where I had to respond to technical issues the way a customer support engineer would. After I submitted it, there was essentially no communication. I received no feedback, had no recruiter contact, and had no real interaction during the process. The onl…
