Mercor Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 50 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Mercor.
Mercor
Software Engineer
Entry Average Negative experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen
Interview formats
Behavioral
The interview experience was not good. The first interview was very short, the interviewer was late and seemed disengaged and rushed. I didn't get to ask my questions or introduce myself. I was rejected but then they reached out a month later for another interview for the same position. However, the interviewer didn't even show up. For a startup company, this doesn't give a good impression. It showed a lack of organization and respect for my time. I would not recommend spending time on this company.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you describe your current role?
Mercor
Software Engineer
Mid Average Negative experience No offer 1 round
Interview process
Technical screen
Interview formats
System Design Technical
I was invited for a System Design interview with an AI. Before starting, the system asked for camera access, microphone access, and full screen sharing. There was no human interviewer, only the AI. This made me uncomfortable because it wasn't clear why so much access was needed and how my data would be handled. The page stated 'data is not used to train AI models', but it still asked for video, audio, and screen permissions, which I feel is excessive for a technical test. I'm still deciding whether to proceed.
Confirmed questions0 questions
No confirmed questions were included in this interview report.
Mercor
Software Engineer
Senior Average Positive experience No offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Take home Onsite Offer
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral
The interview is conducted by an AI, which asks questions very specific to my resume, making it the most tailored interview I've ever had. This is better than generic questions human interviewers usually ask because AI can generate more personalized questions. I think this is the future of interviews, at least for the initial stages. However, the AI focused a lot on my most recent experiences and security. So, be ready for many questions about your latest role. About the job offer, I'm not sure if they will give offers to many people. There's a rumor that they want to use candidates to improve their interview AI for future sales, not really to hire. So, don't get your hopes up too high. Still, I think this new interview format is interesting and worth trying for the experience.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you describe how you handled the security for "this application"?
Mercor Software Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Mercor interview reports.
“Using the provided incomplete `Dockerfile.candidate` and a base image containing a 2019 commit of the `black` code formatter repository, can you write Conda commands within the Dockerfile to set up an environment named `testbed`? Ensure the correct Python version and dependencies are installed so that `pytest tests/test_black.py` runs successfully. Remember, you are strictly limited to using Conda and cannot use tools like Poetry or uv.”
Read reports →“Regarding C# native code, what's the necessity of pinning objects and the potential issues if pinning isn't managed properly?”
Read reports →“Regarding the use of hashmaps within await functions, can it be done, and what are the potential consequences?”
Read reports →“What kind of database and other services would be appropriate for the backend of a large chat service?”
Read reports →“Can you elaborate on the differences between asynchronous programming and multithreading?”
Read report →“Describe how to build pipelines with MongoDB and Node.js within a microservices setup.”
Read report →“Design a URL shortener service capable of handling 10,000 new URLs daily, with a storage requirement of at least 5 years. This service should produce unique short URLs (under 10 characters) and resolve them within 100ms. Address potential URL collisions and the expiration of URLs.”
Read report →“For a URL shortener service needing to serve users globally across different continents, how would you address regional performance? What architectural adjustments would you propose?”
Read report →“What are some strategies for enhancing the performance of web applications?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 50 Mercor interview reports.