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
- A Power Trading Forecast Case StudyWeiss Asset Management · Data Scientist · Technical Screen · Aug 2026Rejected
Case study: It was a one-hour interview with two documents to read. The first provided background and a short introduction to the electricity market in power trading. The market participants included ordinary consumers, utility companies, electricity producers, and electricity traders. The basic assumptions were: Electricity prices stayed constant within a day, and ordinary consumers did not chan…
- A Recruiter Screen About Level, Motivation, and AvailabilityAnthropic · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Aug 2026In progress
The recruiter asked what level of position I was looking for. I was a little distracted at the beginning and misheard the question, thinking I was being asked about my current position at my company. The other questions were why I wanted to join Anthropic and when I would be available to begin interviewing. The rest of the call was an introduction to the interview process. I was told that a coord…
- A Rescheduled Telemetry Design Interview and Naming VariantsAnthropic · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026Rejected
I'd spent a long time looking through interview reports and hadn't found anyone saying what the Data Infra system-design interview actually covered. I recently did it, so here's my experience. Getting this interview scheduled was rough. It was originally set for a Wednesday. On Tuesday evening, HR said my experience looked more data-related, so they'd have me do Data Infra system design instead o…
- A Rolling-Window Officer Status Lookup System Design QuestionAxon · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026
I applied for this position online on a whim and didn't expect to actually land an interview. The company works in public safety. The question was to design a system for looking up an officer's status record near a given point in time. The system continuously receives data from police officers' devices. For each officer, while they're active, their device generates a record every 5 seconds. Each…
- A Serious 20-Minute AI Safety HR ScreenAnthropic · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Aug 2026In progress
A former colleague referred me earlier, and recently a recruiter called me for an HR screen. The recruiter did not smile at all and gave no introduction. The first thing I was asked was: why Anthropic? Then came several more questions: Was there anything in a recent Anthropic interview, article, or news story that I agreed or disagreed with? Why was AI safety important to me? Had I genuinely prac…
- A Set Problem in Java, a Surprise Streaming Question, and a RejectDisney · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026Rejected
This was a practice interview at the start of my job search. They started off with a "most impactful project" question, and I just answered it off the cuff — I hadn't prepped for behavioral questions. Then: write a set, but at first they only let me use Java. I used to write Java, but algorithm interviews these days want you to write so much code that I've been prepping everything in Python. This…
- A Shared To-Do List Design and a Kafka MistakeRoblox · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026Rejected
The system design question was the shared to-do list problem from the question bank. Unfortunately, I had not had time to prepare for it. This was also my first system design interview, so I did not perform very well. I made one critical mistake by adding a Kafka queue. That made the system asynchronous and would affect the speed of the synchronous flow. The interviewer still interacted with me t…
- A Simulation Design Round After a Recruiter ReassuranceWaymo · Software Engineer · Onsite · Aug 2026Rejected
Coding: 317. The second problem was traversing a graph with DFS, fairly simple. There was a follow-up: come up with an algorithm to prove your answer is correct. A strange follow-up. Behavioral: Very standard. A project I'm proud of, how to handle priorities, things like that. System design: This was the first round of the interview. What a disastrous start. I was interviewing with the simulation…
- A Sunday Night System Design Screen Where the Interviewer Just Went SilentAirwallex · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026
This is an Australian payments company. Their dev team is mainly based in Singapore. When HR reached out, they picked a really late time slot to schedule things. Then for the phone screen, they booked me in for the system design round on Sunday night at 9pm. HR told me they use Whimsical for the whiteboard. But then it turned out the interviewer's team doesn't actually have a fixed whiteboard too…
- A System Design Round with Almost No CodingLegora · Software Engineer · Onsite · Aug 2026
This one was basically the same as another writeup I'd already seen about this company's process. Round 1 was a project deep dive. Round 2 was system design + coding, though the coding part was so small it felt kind of pointless. I originally thought the coding portion would take 45 minutes, but this second round actually leaned much more toward system design. They gave me a chat app setup, asked…
- A Take-Home Stock-Price API TaskThe Trade Desk · Software Engineer · Take-home Project · Aug 2026
I am not sure whether this take-home assessment is the same as an online assessment. Implement a single function that returns a list containing every date between first_date and last_date, together with the stock's opening and closing prices for each date. The rough interface was: The output looked roughly like this: All of this information had to be obtained through real HTTP requests. The promp…
- A Three-Level Robot Path OptimizationUber · Software Engineer · Senior+ · Technical Screen · Aug 2026
In a grid, a robot needs to move from a starting point to a destination. Each move consumes one unit of battery power. Charging cells are distributed throughout the grid, and when the robot reaches one, its battery is recharged to full. The task is to find an optimal path using the following priorities, compared lexicographically: Minimize the number of charging cells used. Minimize the maximum b…
- A Three-Month Process Ending in RejectionSquarepoint · Risk Technology Software Engineer · Senior+ · Technical Screen · Aug 2026Rejected
I am an older programmer. After graduating in 2016, I spent my early career doing C++ backend development at internet companies. After the pandemic, I moved into quantitative development. My most recent job was developing trading infrastructure in the Singapore office of a small quantitative firm, and my former employer laid me off in March. From March through May, I interviewed intensively with…
- A Two-and-a-Half-Hour Second RoundPinduoduo · Software Engineer · Senior+ · Technical Screen · Aug 2026
The difficulty shot up in this second round, though that was mainly because my technical skills were weak. I felt like I'd failed. I saw a report from someone who also had a second round in July, probably with the same interviewer: a strong manager vibe, and basically the same behavioral questions. The embarrassing part is that I only read that report in full after my interview. Anyways. This rou…
- Accenture España Consultant interview with supplier-selection case studyAccenture España · Consultant · HR Screen · Aug 2026
I started with an HR interview that immediately included a case study about choosing a supplier company for a client. There were three options: one high-priced firm with junior talent, another high-priced firm with senior talent, and a third option in the middle. The case felt like a real consulting judgment call rather than a simple technical problem. It was difficult because there was no obviou…
- Accenture España Software Engineer interview experience: a mismatched final assessmentAccenture España · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026Rejected
The process started normally. The technical interview covered core JavaScript and React, including hooks, reconciliation, HOCs, performance patterns, and some architecture discussion. Then I had a managerial-style round about past projects and how I would fit on a team. After clearing both interviews, I received an online assessment covering React, React Native, and Angular. The role was clearly…
- Accenture España Software Engineer Interview Experience: DSA basics, OOP, DBMS, and communication testingAccenture España · Software Engineer · Other · Aug 2026Offer
The experience felt straightforward and lower-pressure than I expected. After the early screening steps, the rounds focused on project discussion and basics such as data structures and algorithms, OOP, and DBMS. The interviewer was polite, spoke slowly and clearly, and asked questions that matched the skills on my resume. One part used a larger assessment setup with cognitive-style tasks and tech…
- Accenture España Software Engineer Interview Experience: DSA, cognitive MCQ, and AI communication assessmentAccenture España · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Aug 2026Offer
I started with resume screening and then moved through technical steps with clear expectations. The technical rounds included basic DSA coding and fundamentals discussion. The process felt professional, and the interviewers were easy to understand because they stated expectations plainly. Later assessments covered coding and communication. I took a timed cognitive-style MCQ test and a smaller cod…
- Accenture España Software Engineer interview with Databricks AutoLoaderAccenture España · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Aug 2026
My interview centered on Databricks and PySpark. I started with an online assessment containing Databricks MCQs and a PySpark coding question. The virtual interview then covered Databricks specifics, including AutoLoader, followed by another PySpark problem. The final in-office interview went further into product-style concepts. I discussed my data-processing experience and answered questions on…
- Accenture España Software Engineer interview with Java and RedisAccenture España · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Aug 2026Rejected
I had two main rounds and found the process technical and tougher than average. The first was an assessment with two coding questions. The second was a deeper technical interview covering Java, microservices, Redis, DSA-style coding, and Java Streams. The interviewers seemed serious about evaluating actual problem solving. It felt challenging because I had to work through details, rather than bec…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: 90 MCQs and virtual panelAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Aug 2026
My first stages were assessment focused, before any live interaction. I began with a cognitive and technical assessment of 90 MCQs in 90 minutes, followed by a coding assessment with two to three programming questions. Next came an AI driven communication test that combined voice and text. Only after those steps did I reach a combined technical and HR interview in a short virtual panel. The diffi…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: 90-question assessment and AI communication panelAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Aug 2026
The process was staged. First came a cognitive and technical assessment with 90 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, followed by a coding assessment with two to three programming problems. Next was a communication assessment that used AI for voice and text. Only then did I reach a combined technical and HR virtual panel lasting 15 to 30 minutes. I did not receive an offer, but the structure w…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: AI agents and Vertex AI requirementAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026
I interviewed for a software engineering role adjacent to AI engineering. The conversation began with my background and introduction, then moved into what an AI agent needs, why someone would use an AI agent, and how an agent differs from a workflow. The technical discussion also covered semantic search. The interviewer tied that to a hiring expectation of about 3 to 4 years of experience with Go…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: C#, .NET, Azure, and live codingAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Aug 2026In progress
The process began with an online technical assessment before the interview rounds. In the first technical interview, I discussed features I had worked with in C#, .NET, and SQL. The conversation then moved to Azure services through scenario questions and ended with a live coding problem. The difficulty felt average. Moving from real tooling to scenarios and back to coding seemed to test both fami…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: compensation did not meet expectationsAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026Offer
Most of my interviews were about C# and real-world scenarios, and the interviewers also asked about my previous project experience. I explained what I had built and how I approached the problems I had worked on. After the technical discussion, I had a managerial round that came down to compensation. The salary did not meet my expectation, so I declined. They offered a 5% hike on my current CTC, b…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: Databricks, PySpark, CDC, and Unity CatalogAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Aug 2026
My interview journey was heavily focused on Databricks and PySpark. It began with an online assessment containing Databricks multiple-choice questions and a PySpark coding question. A virtual interview followed, with questions about Databricks AutoLoader and another PySpark coding question. The process became even more specific in an in-office round. I was asked about my current project and compl…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: direct technical and Delivery Manager flowAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Aug 2026
The recruitment process was straightforward because it stayed focused on technical discussion. I had one explicitly technical interview, followed by a final stage with a Delivery Manager. There was no formal HR interview in between. The technical interview was the main checkpoint before the process moved to the delivery-focused final conversation. I appreciated the direct flow, but the communicat…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: Fifteen-minute HR-focused screenAccenture in India · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Aug 2026Offer
I had an off-campus interview that was much lighter than I expected. There were no technical questions. After a basic introduction and a discussion of my projects, most of the conversation stayed on HR topics. They asked about my strengths and weakness and asked about any prior work or internship experience. The whole interview was short, around 15 minutes. It was rated very easy, and I received…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: Next-day HR schedulingAccenture in India · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Aug 2026In progress
I applied one night and received a call the next day to schedule the first HR interview. Everything moved quickly after that. I went through three rounds: HR, a technical round, and a final Senior Manager face-check. I did not have an offer yet, but the process felt promising. It moved fast enough that I did not have time to overthink, and each step followed directly from the previous one. The pr…
- Accenture in India Software Engineer Interview Experience: offer within one weekAccenture in India · Software Engineer · Aug 2026Offer
The process was smooth and quick. I received an offer within a week after the interviews, so waiting was not an issue. The interviewer also made expectations clear, which made it easier to stay aligned during the conversation. The difficulty was average and never overwhelming, but the process still felt well run. I went in with questions about how it would work and instead found direct communicat…
