CarGurus Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Got approached by the CarGurus sourcer on LinkedIn and then talked to a recruiter. The first phone call was good. Then I had a phone screen with an engineer. It was easy and I passed, so they asked about my availability for the onsite interviews. There were supposed to be 2 virtual and 2 in-person rounds. During the virtual rounds, one interviewer seemed unprepared. She asked a strange question, and when I asked for more details, she just talked about the use case instead of the actual problem. For the in-person onsite, they asked for my availability, but I had to postpone because of health reasons. They rescheduled, but then had to postpone again because a team member wasn't available. When I asked for a new date, I heard nothing for a week, and then got a rejection email. Super unprofessional.

This was the most communicative, organized, and well-run interview process I've been through. My recruiter was super responsive and made it clear they valued my time, even accommodating me during the busy holiday season. The process included a recruiter call, two technical interviews focused on React, one technical interview covering JavaScript/TypeScript, and then an in-person system design interview that was immediately followed by a behavioral chat with the hiring manager. All the technical interviews felt really collaborative, and I appreciated that I wasn't left to struggle alone. It seemed like they assumed I knew how to solve the problems and were more interested in my approach and how I explained it. The system design interview could have been a bit clearer. After finishing up, I got feedback and a verbal offer the next week. They promised and delivered the written offer before the new year.

The interview process went super smooth. I was first reached out by a campus recruiter for a phone screen interview. I shared my experience and some expectations with her, and she talked about the company culture and the type of work that a co-op student like me is expected to be involved in. Then, I got a response the following day to set up for the first technical interview. My interviewer was a member of the team which I would be working in, so that was really helpful. A second technical interview and an HR interview was scheduled within couple days later. The entire interview process took about two weeks, and I was given three days to decide on the offer. They were also very responsive to the emails that I sent, whether it was questions about the interview process or to set up for a meeting.