Cockroach Labs Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 12 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Cockroach Labs.
Cockroach Labs
Software Development Engineer
Entry Average Positive experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Technical screen
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Coding
It started with a 30-minute phone screen where I talked about my experience. The recruiter was really great, super nice throughout the whole process, via emails and the phone screen. Then, there was a 1-hour technical interview. I wasn't sure if I was meant to solve more than one question, but I finished the first one. The interviewer then asked me how I would improve it. It wasn't overly difficult, but I was definitely a bit rusty and should have done a better job explaining my thought process.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- What are some behavioral questions they might ask during their interview process?
- Write code for a class that can handle commands like delete and update.
Cockroach Labs
Senior Software Engineer Front End
Senior Average Positive experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Presentation
Interview formats
Technical Coding System Design Presentation
I had really clear and quick communication with the recruiters the whole time, even though some past reviews mentioned they don't always communicate well. I heard back about a week after applying. Then there was a phone interview with a recruiter a few days later. After that, a technical interview with two engineers happened just a few days after that. It was a two-hour interview that included a live coding session and a discussion where I presented a system design I had worked on. They have an open source interview process which helps you prepare thoroughly. I completed the live coding part, and felt the technical interview overall went well. I didn't get an offer, but they responded quickly with detailed feedback from both parts of the technical interview when I asked for it to help with future interviews. The people were friendly and made me feel valued throughout the process.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- For the front-end assessment, you're asked to do some DOM manipulation.
- Feedback I received is that I could have communicated my approach up-front a bit more.
Cockroach Labs
Software Engineer
Entry Average Negative experience No offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Technical screen Onsite Presentation
Interview formats
Technical System Design Behavioral
I had 4 in person technical interviews and a lunch with a non-technical person from the team. The whole process wasn't great. The interviewers didn't seem that into their work or talking to me. One guy, during the system design part, was kind of flippant and patronizing. He was judgmental about me not knowing network speed details, which felt unfair as I'm a new grad and only had one class on system design. They seemed really fixed on one way of doing things, not open to other ideas. It wasn't a friendly or personal vibe. The best part was talking to one interviewer I connected with, but the other three were tough.
Confirmed questions4 questions
- Can you describe a broad and vague systems design problem?
- Tell me about an algorithms-based question.
- Another algorithms-based question.
Cockroach Labs Software Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Cockroach Labs interview reports.
“Write code for a class that can handle commands like delete and update.”
Read reports →“Q1: Is it a rectangle?”
Read reports →“Can you describe a broad and vague systems design problem?”
Read reports →“What kind of internship work are you looking for, and what draws you to Cockroach Labs?”
Read reports →“Tell me about an algorithms-based question.”
Read report →“Can you tell me why you're interested in Cockroach Labs and what kind of work you're seeking for your upcoming internship?”
Read report →“What are some behavioral questions they might ask during their interview process?”
Read report →“Can you describe coding problems you've tackled on the job, specifically those involving databases?”
Read report →“Can you describe a past design problem you tackled?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 12 Cockroach Labs interview reports.