Katkat

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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

  • The Walt Disney Software Engineer interview: graph problem and streaming projectsThe Walt Disney · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    After a recruiter phone call, I had a focused 45-minute technical interview with the hiring manager. I was given a graph problem that began with a BFS-style approach, then the conversation shifted to my background. We discussed data-streaming projects, including Kafka, and design patterns. They were testing whether I could connect algorithm fundamentals to systems I had actually built. The call w…

  • Thomson Reuters Software Engineer Interview Experience: HackerRank, design, and uneven interview dayThomson Reuters · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Jul 2026

    The process took about a month. Scheduling was generally smooth despite several availability reschedules, but one hour-long technical day felt one-sided because the interviewer did not seem to be listening and appeared to steer toward preselected answers. I started with a HackerRank programming assessment and later had coding, system design, and job-fit discussions. The design prompt extended a p…

  • ThoughtWorks Full Stack Engineer interview cancelled before it beganThoughtWorks · Full Stack Engineer · Jul 2026
    Rejected

    I applied and had an interview scheduled about a week ahead, which made it feel like a real opportunity. I was surprised by how quickly it moved. Then, the day before the interview, I received a generic rejection saying I was not a good fit. That did not feel consistent with the criteria they stated publicly. I had compared my resume with the job description using an ATS match and received a stro…

  • ThoughtWorks Software Engineer interview experienceThoughtWorks · Software Engineer · Take-home Project · Jul 2026

    After a recruiter conversation, I went directly into a coding-focused process. There was a take-home code challenge on clean code, object-oriented thinking, and testing. When I finished, a pairing-style round asked me to show how the solution fit the current design and explain the full flow rather than simply hand over code. It was moderately difficult because working code was not enough. I also…

  • ThoughtWorks Software Engineer interview: pair programming, logging and production incidentsThoughtWorks · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    The recruiter screen was supportive and gave me enough detail to understand what the interviewers would look for. Scheduling took some time. Once the interviews began, the process felt focused on technical reasoning and how I thought while working with someone else. In pair programming, I had to explain my approach as I coded. We worked on clean code, problem-solving communication and design deci…

  • Three Rounds on Data Quality, User Support, and a Compliance Modeling CaseJain Global · Data Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    round 1: What data issues have you run into during backtesting? How do you do identifier resolution? How do you choose among multiple vendor sources and backfill between them? How do you handle stale data, missing data, and outliers? How do you avoid look-ahead bias in data like earnings estimates? If backtest results suddenly change, how do you determine whether it's a model, code, or data probl…

  • Three Surprise Technical Rounds After HR Went DarkOpendoor · Backend Engineer · Onsite · Jul 2026

    The first round was with a tech lead, and it was the only round with a good experience. It wasn't a traditional behavioral round — it was pretty relaxed, just getting a feel for work style and company culture. Right after the tech lead round I was immediately moved forward, and then HR vanished for a week. I emailed the tech lead to ask what was going on, and that's how I found out the original H…

  • After applying, I started with a recruiter conversation centered on my resume. The recruiter walked through it with me, and the interview team made it clear that I needed to know my own CV inside out. Later interviews went deeper into the projects I had listed. I got detailed follow-up questions about specific decisions, my reasoning, and what happened as a result. My sense was that the exact for…

  • TikTok Shop Software Engineer Interview Experience: A disputed reasoning pathTikTok Shop · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    I started strongly in the sense that I solved the main LeetCode problem as well as I could, but the interview quickly became uncomfortable. The interviewer kept pulling me into the details of what I said and how I justified it. What threw me off was that, after I gave what felt like a solid answer, the interviewer pushed a sub-optimal approach as the right direction. The repeated follow-ups made…

  • TikTok Shop Software Engineer interview: coding explanations and detailed follow-upsTikTok Shop · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    After a recruiter call, I went through a short series of online interviews. We started with my background and projects, then moved to a medium LeetCode-style question. I had to explain my approach and why I'd chosen it. The interviewer kept returning to the details, almost walking through every step again, and I grew more nervous as the questions continued. The coding itself felt manageable. When…

  • TikTok Shop Software Engineer interview: KPI, SQL and incident scenariosTikTok Shop · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    The interviewer first asked whether I had questions, then I gave a brief introduction. It quickly turned into a question about setting KPIs for the role, followed by troubleshooting and incident scenarios about user tickets. I was asked how I would investigate a page that would not load for a person new to the platform, what early signs could point to an access-permission cause, and how I would i…

  • TikTok Shop Software Engineer interview: scheduling issues and timed OATikTok Shop · Software Engineer · Online Assessment · Jul 2026

    The process got off to a bad start with scheduling problems that kept moving things around. I felt as though I was always waiting for someone else to show up, and that disruption carried into the technical portion. The assessment had an array medium question and a tougher trie problem with about 45 minutes total. I finished the array question in roughly the first quarter of that time, but the tri…

  • TikTok Software Engineer C++ performance interview experienceTikTok · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    The recruiter screen focused on my background, C++, and performance optimization. A technical coding interview followed on an online platform. I solved algorithmic problems in C++ and explained my approach and complexity analysis. The same session also covered modern C++ and engineering fundamentals, including memory management, multithreading, STL, and performance optimization techniques. The in…

  • TikTok Software Engineer interview experienceTikTok · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Jul 2026
    Withdrew

    HR reached out and the process began smoothly with the usual background conversation. Once I entered interviews, though, repeated rescheduling made the process drag. The delays and back-and-forth were more frustrating than the interview content itself. I eventually stopped waiting because I had received another offer and declined this process. The content was fairly straightforward, but the repea…

  • The interview was confirmed for an evening start, then moved less than a day beforehand because of interviewer availability. The earliest replacement was late at night, leaving little time to get focused. It began with a project deep dive, then shifted to live coding. I had to understand two problems, ask clarifying questions, explain my approach, and produce working solutions in roughly 25 minut…

  • TikTok Software Engineer interview: demanding technical loopTikTok · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    After the initial HR coordination, I went through a longer technical loop that felt more demanding than typical screens I had seen. The interviewers were polite, but the overall impression was that people were stretched. Several interviewers mentioned heavy hours, so it did not feel like a casual conversation. There were several technical rounds, each built around LeetCode-style medium questions,…

  • TikTok Software Engineer interview: projects, systems topics and TreeNode DPTikTok · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    The opening was either a brief resume and role discussion or a direct start to the technical conversation, but it consistently set the direction first. I was asked about my background and then given a coding problem. Early topics included iOS development, backend work, Java, networking, and distributed systems. The interview then narrowed to a LeetCode-style TreeNode and DP challenge. The intervi…

  • TikTok Software Engineer interview: troubleshooting, SQL and ticket prioritizationTikTok · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    After I connected with the recruiter, the process moved slowly and felt disorganized. There were timing problems, including a reschedule when the hiring manager did not show up. The pace was the hardest part for me to tolerate. Once the technical interview happened, I introduced myself and discussed how I would approach the role, including what KPIs I would set. I then worked through practical tr…

  • TikTok Solutions Engineer interview: resume discussion and LeetCode questionsTikTok · Solutions Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    The process was fairly direct. After a recruiter-style introduction about my background, the first technical interview covered my resume and behavioral questions before moving to a LeetCode medium problem in a usual interview format. The early rounds followed that pattern, with behavioral questions and one LeetCode problem each time. The interviewers were encouraging and wanted to hear how my pro…

  • Time Based Key-Value Store and a Choose-Your-Own System DesignCockroach Labs · Software Engineer · Onsite · Jul 2026

    LeetCode 981: Time Based Key-Value Store Design a timestamp-based key-value store data structure that supports set(key, value, timestamp) and get(key, timestamp). It tests whether you can bring down the time complexity of get by optimizing the data structure. The recommended direction is a hash table combined with arrays (e.g. unordered_map >>), using binary search…

  • My process was an assessment-centre-style loop rather than a single interview. After initial contact, I had a multi-part day with several sections, structured as a full evaluation instead of a casual conversation. The centerpiece was a competency-based interview about how I handled past situations and fit the role. There was also a group discussion and a short written essay on a given topic. It f…

  • TotalEnergies Software Engineer interview: four-step processTotalEnergies · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
    Offer

    The hiring process felt organized from the beginning and had four steps. I started with an HR conversation about my background, motivation, and whether I matched what the company wanted. That was followed by two technical interviews intended to assess my skills in a more hands-on way. The final conversation was with a Product Manager. We moved to the functional side of the role: their expectation…

  • TotalEnergies Software Engineer interview: technical rounds and communication assessmentTotalEnergies · Software Engineer · HR Screen · Jul 2026

    The process had several interviews, each with a fairly clear purpose. I began with HR, discussing my background and motivation. Technical interviews with the hiring team came next, followed later by leadership-level conversations. The atmosphere stayed professional and constructive, and I never felt dismissed. There was also an online soft-skills assessment. The in-person rounds combined technica…

  • TransPerfect Account Executive interview: assessment, negative-behavior questions, and no follow-upTransPerfect · Account Executive · Online Assessment · Jul 2026
    Rejected

    The experience began smoothly with an introductory call about the role. I received an email link for assessment questions and heard quickly about what came next. When more rounds were mentioned, I expected a normal progression into deeper interviews. Instead, I was filtered out around the middle. After a screen, I completed a Criteria cognitive and personal-style test, then communication stopped.…

  • No response

    The TfL process was a short two-stage setup that did not feel very structured. The interviewers were pleasant, but I had little room for meaningful back-and-forth or to show how I worked. I had prepared one scenario in a more experience-led format, but the questions arrived differently than expected. Another round was rushed and constrained, too brief to ask much. About a month after the intervie…

  • Tredence Data Engineer interview: PySpark, Spark architecture and SQLTredence · Data Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026
    In progress

    After an initial recruiter-style conversation, I had a focused technical screen that lasted about 30 minutes. We discussed PySpark, SQL and how I worked with Azure Databricks. The panel's tone felt positive. The questions covered data engineering fundamentals. I explained Spark architecture in detail, talked through ways to parse JSON and, toward the end, wrote a SQL query to find three consecuti…

  • Tredence Data Scientist interview: NLP and GenAI gapTredence · Data Scientist · Other · Jul 2026

    About a week after a recruiter call, I had one technical round. It began with my current project and resume, so the discussion initially felt grounded in my background. Then it shifted to NLP and GenAI, including transformers. I had not worked hands-on in that exact area. When I could not speak confidently about what they wanted, the energy dropped quickly and the interview effectively ended soon…

  • Tredence Software Engineer interview: React, Node.js, SQL, and scenariosTredence · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    After a recruiter touchpoint, I had a technical screen about a week later. The process included three technical discussions and another technical round at their office. The difficulty was easy to medium, and the recurring topics were React, Node.js, and SQL. They combined basic DSA questions with scenarios about common web-app problems. The final in-person round stayed with the same themes instea…

  • Tripadvisor Software Engineer interview: coding, design, and culture roundsTripadvisor · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    The Tripadvisor loop began with HR covering my background and fit, with a few quick basic technical checks. The next technical screen included an easy LeetCode-style question, OOP and data-structure discussion, and an open-ended technical problem. Later coding rounds had two LeetCode questions and discussion of time and space complexity. The last technical round combined another LeetCode problem…

  • Tripadvisor Software Engineer interview: fizz buzz technical promptTripadvisor · Software Engineer · Technical Screen · Jul 2026

    I had an easy, straightforward process. The meeting invitation arrived well before the interview, which gave me time to prepare, and communication about the process was clear. The technical questions were light rather than deep system questions. I was asked fizz buzz, passed it, and moved through the process. I still did not get an offer. Location: London, England. Overall feedback: positive. Off…