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TrueCar Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.

Based on 15 interview experiences · FREE TO READ

2.6 Rounds average
Average Typical difficulty
66.7% Positive experience

Candidate interview experiences

First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at TrueCar.

Showing 3 of 15
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TrueCar

Software Developer

Engineering · more than a year ago

Senior Difficult Positive experience Accept offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Take home Technical screen Onsite Panel Group Presentation
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Coding Presentation

It took around 5 weeks to get through the whole thing with 4 interviews. Since I didn't live nearby, it was mostly done remotely over the phone or Skype. First, I spoke with the recruiter for a quick chat and to see if I was a good fit. Then, I talked to a product dev manager who asked me some questions to check my knowledge. After that, I got a programming assignment that was pretty open-ended, so you could really show off if you wanted to. The next interview was a Skype call with some developers from the product development team where we went over the assignment. The last interview was on-site, and it was with pretty much the same people from the third interview. It felt like a tough but fair process. If you want to work with the best, be patient and put in the effort.

Confirmed questions1 question
  • Can you explain the HTTP request-response cycle in really deep detail?
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TrueCar

Software Engineer

Engineering

Mid Average Negative experience No offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Coding System Design Behavioral

My interview process included four stages: a recruiter chat, a hiring manager discussion, a coding assessment, and a system design interview. The coding interview at TrueCar was particularly impressive. I was tasked with writing three functions, which I completed with time left over. I even had time to refactor the code, consolidating the functionality of the three functions into one, which could then be called by the others. Despite this, I received a rejection, with the reason given being insufficient knowledge of Ruby and React. Curiously, I wasn't asked any questions about React during the interview. When I inquired about how I could have improved, they declined to provide feedback.

Confirmed questions1 question
  • Write a function that accepts arrays of restaurant votes and identifies the winning restaurant.
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TrueCar

Software Engineer

Engineering

Entry Average Positive experience Accept offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Phone screen Onsite
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical

So, first I had a phone screen that was about 30 mins to an hour where they asked me about my background. Then, I went in for an in-person interview at my University's career center, which was about an hour long. The recruiter was super nice and let me know what the next steps would be.

Confirmed questions3 questions
  • Tell me about your technical background.
  • Can you share an example of a cool project you've done?
  • Describe a challenging coding problem you encountered and how you solved it.

TrueCar Software Engineer Interview Questions

Quoted word for word from TrueCar interview reports.

Write a function that accepts arrays of restaurant votes and identifies the winning restaurant.

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Design a tic tac toe game considering all win and tie conditions.

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Can you build a website to search VINs in a database using wildcards? For instance, would 'XXXXXX123456' match 'X****YY1***56' in the database?

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Can you explain the HTTP request-response cycle in really deep detail?

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Describe your approach to searching a file for a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

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If TrueCar didn't have a system for suggesting card dealers, how would you build one and what factors would influence your design?

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Can you outline a typical production system architecture?

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Formats, difficulty and experience

Across all 15 TrueCar interview reports.

Interview formats

Behavioral 31.2%
Technical 28.1%
Coding 18.8%
System Design 15.6%
Presentation 3.1%

Interview difficulty

Easy 13.3%
Average 60%
Difficult 26.7%

Candidate experience

Positive 66.7%
Negative 26.7%
Neutral 6.7%