Intercom Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So I had two interviews back to back. First up was a values fit interview with a Staff Engineer. We talked about stuff like the projects I'm most proud of, how I fit with Intercom's values, and how I deal with ambiguity and ownership. Then, I had a coding challenge. It was about solving a problem with agent assignment and task management. Think data structures, queues, and designing a system under pressure. Intercom did send over some prep materials beforehand, like a detailed interview guide that told me exactly what to expect, the values they're looking for, and what they expect at my engineering level.

The interview process included an algorithm/problem solving session where I had to solve a problem while explaining my thinking, and also optimize its runtime. There was also a culture interview to check for alignment. A system design interview required me to create a design based on product requirements. A role chat gave me a chance to ask questions about the job, which was good. Lastly, there was a coding/pairing session on a practical problem, where code quality wasn't the main concern. Apparently, this last part was where I didn't do well. The feedback about not being familiar with fullstack, despite my backend focus shown on my CV, was unhelpful and seemed biased. The feedback wasn't challenged internally, showing a potential issue with decision-making based on subjective opinions rather than data. The recruiter's communication was also slow, with missed meetings and delayed responses, possibly due to waiting for other candidates. The overall feedback didn't seem logical, and I didn't gain much from the experience. I won't be applying again due to this treatment.

It started with a 30min screener with a recruiter who was super nice and talked about the company and the hiring process. Then there was a 1hr technical interview which was pretty standard with 2 algorithm questions that they apparently always ask, and some experience questions. The algorithms were not too hard. The final step was supposed to be a 7hr marathon interview with 5 separate parts. This included 2.5hrs of a 'minicom' where you build a mini version of their product, with people from their team joining in, and a presentation at the end. The rest was whiteboarding and culture fit stuff. It sounded really excessive, and given my 2 years of experience, I felt like they weren't really serious about me and just wanted to see if I could surprise them. So, I told them it seemed like a lot and I wasn't interested. While back-to-back interviews are normal, a whole day of them feels like too much, especially with a heavy focus on whiteboarding, which I don't think reflects actual work. I can only give a neutral review because that final interview seemed ridiculous and gave me bad vibes, even though the recruiter and the technical interviewer were great.