Handshake Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 372 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
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30 roles · 372 reportsCandidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Handshake.
Handshake
Software Engineer
Senior Average Negative experience No offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen
Interview formats
Coding
The interview process kicked off with a recruiter call, and then there were four levels of coding challenges. The technical assessment wasn't great, though. The requirements for each level were really vague, so candidates had to guess a lot to pass the tests instead of having clear instructions. Also, the coding environment was missing basic IDE features like IntelliSense. It felt like a lot of extra work to write complicated, unclear problems without proper editor support. I got through Level 1, but Level 2 was tough to stay motivated with because of the lack of clarity.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- Describe how you would implement timestamp-based key-value storage and retrieval.
- How would you modify the key-value storage system to handle priorities and retrieve keys in a sorted order?
Handshake
Marketing Manager
Mid Average Negative experience No offer 6 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Take home Technical screen Onsite Panel Background check Offer
Interview formats
Behavioral Case Presentation
The interview process was supposed to be quick, like three steps in two weeks with a business case, but it ended up taking over five weeks. There were long gaps with no communication. They kept telling me to hurry up, but then I wouldn't hear back for days or weeks. The number of steps also grew from three to six. After over two weeks of silence, they asked me to come in for a whole day, but still no offer or clear next steps. When I brought this up, they said I was the top choice and salary wasn't an issue, and HR even gave a salary range. But then they said my salary expectations, which were within that range, were too high. They also reposted the job while I was interviewing, making me wonder if they were serious or just wanted free business ideas. One interviewer hadn't even read my CV properly and made wrong assumptions about me. It went from exciting to disorganized and disappointing. Hope they get more transparent and respect people's time.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you discuss your previous work experience?
Handshake
Software Engineer
Entry Average Positive experience No offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite Background check
Interview formats
Behavioral Coding Technical
The interview process included a recruiter phone screen where we discussed my resume and experience, and how it aligned with the role. Then there was a technical virtual on-site interview, which involved pair programming with two software engineers at Handshake. We had to implement features of a web app using a stack of our choice, with a spec provided beforehand. This part was 1 hour solo and 1 hour of pair programming. Finally, there was a hiring manager screening with two engineering managers, lasting about 45 minutes. Overall, the process was really enjoyable, and everyone was kind and passionate about Handshake's mission. It felt more like conversations, which was positive. I didn't get an offer, but I'd still consider working there because of the culture and mission.
Confirmed questions0 questions
No confirmed questions were included in this interview report.
Handshake
GTM Systems Analyst
Senior Average Negative experience No offer 6 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Technical screen Onsite Background check
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical
So I've been interviewing for this Sr. GTM Systems Analyst role at Handshake for about two months now, and I went through six interviews with different people across the company. After all that, they just ghosted me. No follow-up, no feedback, nothing. The craziest part is they actually emailed me asking for my feedback on their interview process. It's pretty ironic for a company that talks about giving students and early-career folks opportunities, given how unprofessional they were with me. They seem to really care about fairness and inclusivity, and the people I spoke with were great – knowledgeable, engaging, and really believed in the mission. They represented Handshake well. But the way they treated me as a candidate, after I put in all the time to research, prepare, and talk with them, just doesn't reflect those values. Getting ghosted is one thing, but then asking for my feedback on their process, citing their values of 'ask questions' and 'inspired by high standards,' felt disrespectful. A simple heads-up would have shown they respected my time and effort.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you tell me about a time you collaborated closely with teams outside your own on a project?
Handshake Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Handshake interview reports.
“Given two strings and a dictionary of similar words, create a function to determine if the strings are similar, considering identical words or words with the same meaning from the dictionary.”
Read reports →“Can you convert an integer to its word representation? (e.g., 123 becomes 'one hundred and twenty three')”
Read reports →“Imagine a bacteria culture that doubles in size every hour. If the culture completely fills a container in 10 hours, how long will it take to fill half of the container?”
Read reports →“Can you explain what a database is in a way a 5-year-old would understand?”
Read reports →“What constitutes fraud, and what measures can be implemented to prevent it or stay aware of it?”
Read report →“How would you modify the key-value storage system to handle priorities and retrieve keys in a sorted order?”
Read report →“Can you explain the distinctions between POST, PUT, and DELETE methods in the context of web services?”
Read report →“In the vending machine simulation, how would you implement methods for users to input change and select an item, ensuring these actions are idempotent and can occur in any sequence before the final vending action?”
Read report →“Given a sanitized dataset with three sheets of data, cross-reference the information to create a narrative for presentation.”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 372 Handshake interview reports.