Pony.ai Interview Questions
& Process

They did a screening, then a virtual interview, then an onsite. The onsite interview was really disorganized though. Two of the four panelists hadn't even read my resume, and one of them was a really bad interviewer who started with 'tell me something technical, I don't know what to ask you'. After the interview, they went silent and unresponsive for like 2 weeks.

This hiring process was really quick. I had a phone screen and then a virtual onsite with 4 rounds all in the following week. A week after that, I had another conversation with a director. All the interviews were 45 minutes long. The people I spoke with were all super smart, friendly, and humble. It felt more like we were collaborating on solving real work problems. They were cool with me using whatever programming language I preferred for the coding challenges and offered helpful hints when I got stuck. Big thanks to the recruiter too, she was seriously one of the nicest technical recruiters I've ever met.

The interview process involved one phone interview followed by an onsite interview. The onsite included several general coding interviews and a presentation of my research. I received an offer from Pony.AI and accepted it, signing the full-time offer. I then focused on my thesis for graduation. About three months later, I contacted HR for my employer's identification number for my OPT application and was unexpectedly notified that my offer was rescinded due to changes in Pony.ai's staffing needs. While I understand this can happen, especially with startups, it was upsetting and disrupted my plans. I now have to manage job interview preparations alongside my thesis, which is particularly challenging as an international student needing to sort out my VISA and work authorization. Be aware of this situation when considering a startup like Pony.AI.

The interview process started with a phone screen where the interviewer was 20 minutes late. We discussed my past work, and then I was asked to code quicksort. A week later, I was invited for an onsite interview. This consisted of 5 standard interviews: 4 technical whiteboarding sessions and 1 HR interview. The interviews were very CS/coding heavy, focusing on data structures and algorithms. I wasn't fully prepared, so I didn't perform well. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the people at Pony.AI. Some interviewers were quite rude, entering the room without introducing themselves and immediately firing off questions. They were also unhelpful or hostile when I asked questions. I sometimes repeat questions to different people to check consistency, and one interviewer flatly refused to disclose trivial information that a previous interviewer had readily shared. From my limited interactions, it seems to have a strong Chinese company culture, and I'm unsure what it would be like to work there. I was pretty indifferent when I received the rejection email.