Retool Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process started with a virtual recruiter screen, followed by a technical screen that included coding and system design. Candidates had the option to come into the office for an onsite interview, which consisted of two coding rounds, a project deep dive, and a meeting with the hiring manager for behavioral questions. It was an enjoyable process and easy to schedule. The coding questions were interesting, and the interviewers were warm and friendly, which helped calm my nerves during the technical coding screen.

The interview process really showed the company culture and people in a bad light, even though I had a good first impression. It was the worst interview experience I've had with 16 companies this job search. The recruiter told me my technical interview wouldn't be a LeetCode question and that they cared about practical coding. I prepped for practical coding, but the phone screen ended up being exactly one of those classic LeetCode questions. The interviewer was super disengaged, mostly silent, and came off really arrogant, which gave me a panic attack and messed up my performance. The whole system design interview was done on Google Docs. I wasn't prepped for that either, so I spent most of the hour waiting for us to switch to Excalidraw. The system design interviewer was nice, but it was a bit messy trying to get all the requirements down. I remember them being skeptical when I said a Postgres DB could handle 30 RPS search queries. They were so doubtful that I thought I'd messed up, but looking back, I think it's because I didn't give the answer they expected, and the scale assumptions we agreed on put them in a spot where simpler tech could meet the needs. I want to believe my interview experience isn't the real culture at Retool, but I'm worried this experience will scare off good people I'd want to work with.

It started with a technical screening and then an onsite phase. The interviews covered programming, system design, and behavioral aspects. It was a long process but fair, and everyone was helpful. Feedback was given after each interview stage, which was appreciated. Overall, it was a good and smooth experience.