Deliveroo Machine Learning Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 13 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Deliveroo.
Deliveroo
Machine Learning Engineer
Senior Difficult Positive experience Accept offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Take home Onsite
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Coding
First, there was a 15-minute recruiter call where we had a casual chat about my background and why I was interested in working at Roo. Then, I had an interview with two Senior Machine Learning Engineers. I had to be ready to dive deep into my CV and answer technical questions about my previous projects. After that, I received a Machine Learning task to complete at home within 48 hours. This involved understanding a problem, doing EDA, preprocessing, modeling, evaluating, and suggesting future work. The final stage had three parts: a behavioral interview asking for examples of past situations, a Machine Learning theory discussion covering classical ML concepts like gradient descent, backpropagation, linear/logistic regression, and regularization (including the underlying math), and a practical Machine Learning session where I had to discuss how I'd tackle a real-world Deliveroo problem.
Confirmed questions7 questions
- Can you explain what gradient descent is?
- What is regularization and how does it work?
- Could you explain the differences between Lasso and Ridge regression, and in which scenarios you would use each?
Deliveroo
Machine Learning Engineer
Mid Average Positive experience Accept offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral
The interview process was really efficient and well-organized. I heard back from a recruiter within a few days of applying. They gave me a heads-up on the interview stages (technical, business, behavioral) and what to prepare for. I liked that they gave fast and detailed feedback after each round, mentioning strengths and areas to work on. Communication was smooth and respectful from everyone I talked to, from the recruiter to the interviewers and HR. It was a good experience, and I got a sense of the company culture.
Confirmed questions3 questions
- Can you discuss your experience relevant to this Machine Learning Engineer position?
- Could you elaborate on the theoretical underpinnings of various Machine Learning models?
- Please provide some examples that demonstrate your behavioral competencies.
Deliveroo
Machine Learning Engineer
Mid Average Negative experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral
The interview process felt very egotistical, with an excessive focus on memorizing equations rather than the practical applications and business impact of machine learning, which I believe is not essential for the role. I felt uncomfortable throughout, preferring more informal chats that put candidates at ease. The recruiter also delivered the rejection late on a Friday, which was unprofessional and off-putting, suggesting a culture of late-night work.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you explain the calculation of back propagation in neural networks?
Deliveroo Machine Learning Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Deliveroo interview reports.
“What distinguishes a list from a tuple in Python?”
Read reports →“In the context of tf-idf, what does 'term frequency' refer to?”
Read reports →“What potential issue might arise if an empty list is utilized as a default argument in a Python function?”
Read reports →“What kind of data type is unsuitable for use as a dictionary key?”
Read reports →“What is the difference between class variables and instance variables in Python?”
Read report →“Can you explain how Logistic Regression minimizes its loss function?”
Read report →“Can you explain the calculation of back propagation in neural networks?”
Read report →“What is the distinction between Vertical and Horizontal Scaling?”
Read report →“Can you describe the underlying algorithm for a dictionary?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 13 Deliveroo interview reports.