Palantir Technologies Business Development Manager Interview Questions
& Process

It was a strange process. I had a couple of phone screens, then they flew me out for on-sites that they hold on Wednesdays. I interviewed with the finance team. The interviews felt pretty casual, and the questions were mostly interesting quantitative ones. There were a few algorithm/coding questions and some problems involving dice, jelly beans, jars, and goats behind doors. The office environment was typical Silicon Valley: jeans and t-shirts, game rooms, scooters, free drinks, and a cafeteria. I personally find that whole vibe a bit disingenuous – someone's footing the bill for the Red Bull – but some people seem to like it. The senior folks came across as really arrogant, with one even listing the alma maters of different engineers, which is irritating. I'd rather work at a bank if I had to deal with that kind of nonsense. Anyway, they called back and asked me to interview at an office closer to me, which went fine. Then I had phone calls with two of the founders, which were pretty much uneventful, if a bit awkward. Finally, they called and told me I wasn't a good fit. Honestly, that was probably true, but it shouldn't have taken two months and so much of my time to figure that out.

So the first two rounds were pretty standard. Since bizdev people need to know the Palantir platform, round one was a timed quiz on their software and unique programming language. Then, round two was a phone interview where I had to look at different graphs and break them down using common financial metrics. I nailed both of those and got to the in-person interviews. The big takeaway is to actually get some sleep, or you'll mess up simple math. I also practiced a ton of brain teasers, which turned out to be a waste of time. No brain teasers were asked, just stuff related to the field (basic finance and super simple CS knowledge).

I applied through my university's website, and then had a phone interview. They mostly went over my resume and also included a short technical interview, even though it wasn't an engineering role. They apparently expect everyone to have a technical background. I got a bit confused about what they were looking for and messed up a question I should have known. They let me down gently via email.