Palantir Technologies Interview Questions
& Process

Got a phone screen first, then had to do 3 hackerrank problems. The first two were pretty easy, but the third one was a dynamic programming knapsack problem. All 3 problems were linked and built on each other. Like, imagine designing a vending machine message system. First part: given drinks, prices, order, and balance, print change message or insufficient funds. Second part: now you can use balance or rewards points. Third part: optimize for cheapest drink price with a reward scheme. I passed the hackerrank, but I'm still in the middle of the interview process. It felt easier than Intuit but harder than the US Govt Tech Force interviews.

First, I had a screening call with a recruiter which went well and I got to mention what part of Palantir's business I liked. Then, I had an interview setup with another DS in that area. I didn't really like the DS interviewing me, they seemed arrogant and were late and uninterested, and condescending. We talked about why I applied to Palantir, and some times I worked with data, how I did it, and why. Then, we moved to a technical part with some Mesa documentation. I was asked about data tables and joining/aggregation. I was more ready for basic SQL questions, but Mesa has a complicated syntax and was harder to learn in this setting. I managed to answer the three Mesa query questions with help, but ran out of time on the third, so I guess I didn't answer enough questions. I got an email rejection less than a week later. Disappointed, but it is what it is.

The whole thing took about 1.5 months. First, a recruiter screen, then a 1:1 with a Data Scientist (DS). This was pretty standard, just make sure you've prepped your 'why Palantir' and DS story solid, and know their products like Foundry and Gotham. The onsite had 3 rounds: analytical, open-ended, and behavioral. The analytical round involved a case study on real-world issues like supply chains, which was super data-heavy, so definitely be ready with data tables and know which ones are actually important. The open-ended round was basically a mini case study where they push back hard on your logic to test your resilience under pressure. The behavioral round focused on career turning points – your wins, fails, collaborations, etc. The final round was with the hiring manager, which was pretty much surface level. For prep, I checked out recent Blind and Reddit threads for insights into the 'decomp' and analytical style, practiced structuring case and ambiguous questions, did a mock interview on Prepfully with an ex-Palantir coach, and sketched out frameworks for storytelling and stakeholder scenarios.

So I interviewed for a Deployment Strategist role, not grad, with 10 years of experience in tech and defense. The process started with a 45-minute chat with a current Deployment Strategist, covering motivation and hypothetical situations. It was pretty chill and they answered my questions. After that, I got the Palantir Foundry build challenge, which has a 7-day deadline. I spent about 30 hours on it, learning Foundry, planning an MVP, designing the UI, coding, and recording a presentation. Once I passed that, I had a 45-minute final interview with the London-based hiring manager. Even though I passed, I was then asked to do a virtual onsite, with prep tips like 'brush up on your SQL'. At this point, after already putting in 40-50 hours, and thinking the hiring manager interview was the last step, I withdrew. This sequence isn't often described, as most reviews show a simpler interview > onsite > hiring manager flow. The build challenge itself seemed to really test technical and product skills, so the extra onsite felt like too much more time. The people I interacted with were great though.