trivago Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was pretty straightforward. It had three parts: 1. A screening, 2. A technical assessment, and 3. A cultural fit check. Sadly, I didn't pass the technical assessment. Personally, this technical part was different from other companies' interviews where you get a Leetcode question to solve. This one was like a Leetcode question, easy difficulty, but the description was unclear. There were no examples showing what the result should be for a given input. Instead, you were supposed to ask questions to understand the problem, kind of like pair programming. I found this out after the interview when I asked for feedback. I think they should have mentioned this at the start, that we'd be assessed on figuring out the scenario. As a result, I spent too much time trying to understand the question rather than solving it.

I applied for Software Engineer - Data Plumber to Master Our Hotel Data in Oct 2016 and heard back in 9 days. The interview was scheduled for two weeks later. They were super responsive to my questions about the interview. The interview had two parts: first, a general chat on personal and technical stuff, then a 30-minute programming task where I could use Google (they watched closely!) and they responded in two days. They then suggested my next interview, two weeks out, which followed the same two-part structure: a discussion and a 30-min coding task on a known problem with a tricky edge case. This was with an Engineering lead. I got confirmation the next day for an interview a week later, which lasted 2 hours. No coding this time, just deep dives into technical and non-technical skills, especially databases and their behavior since it's a data role. It was tough but friendly and supportive. Since I had another offer, I asked for a quick confirmation. I got an unofficial one via Skype, enough to decline the other offer for trivago's international environment. There were some HR/management miscommunications about the recruitment being frozen, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding. I got the contract offer a few days later, and they were helpful throughout.

The whole thing took about two months. I applied on the Trivago careers site for the Software Engineer role in Leipzig. Five days later, they sent me a project to do, which I had to finish in 7 days. I sent it back two days after that and then waited a whole month for feedback. The recruiter eventually told me the IT team liked my project and set up a Skype call. This call had two parts: first, a chat with HR, and second, a talk with a Team Lead. A week later, the recruiter set up another interview with the Head of the IT Team. Each of these interviews lasted about an hour.