Upstart Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

This was the most unprofessional interview experience ever. It started with a recruiter call, then a technical screen, followed by a behavioral screen with the hiring manager. After that, there was a full onsite interview that included design, project, and coding portions, also with the manager. Finally, references were checked. Throughout the process, I was interviewing for a Senior Software Engineer role. After the comprehensive onsite, the recruiter verbally confirmed I would receive an L5 Senior Software Engineering offer. However, after a reference check and over two weeks of silence, I was presented with an L4 offer. This was a significant waste of my references' time and felt like a bait-and-switch tactic. Be very cautious.

First, a chat with a recruiter, they were really nice. Then, a 1-hour meeting with the hiring manager. We spent half the time talking about my past projects and the other half on a coding problem. It ran a bit long, but it was cool. The next interview was another hour, and it had two coding questions. One was like a LeetCode medium, and the other was probably a hard one. There wasn't enough time to finish both, and the interviewer seemed to think an hour was plenty for both questions plus a 10-minute Q&A. The second question was confusing, and the interviewer didn't even seem to know the full scope of what they were asking.

I had a phone screen with a hiring manager who was professional and friendly. They asked me about CS and DB basics and then gave me a coding task. The HM also explained the job well, so I understood the role better after the call. After that, I had a full virtual onsite interview day because of COVID. It was a standard SWE onsite with coding, design, and behavioral questions. Everyone I spoke with was nice and seemed enthusiastic about their work. I got an offer a few days after passing the onsite and talking to the SVP. They were patient and waited two weeks for my decision since I had other interviews. The recruiter was also very helpful and supportive throughout the process, and I spoke with the HM and other leaders during that time to help me decide. I ended up accepting another offer that was a better fit for my current interests. From the interview, I could tell it's a company with a good work culture that really values its employees. I'd recommend it if that's important to you.