Senior Data Scientist applicants have rated the interview process at Instacart with 3.1 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 30% positive. To compare, the company-average is 46.1% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Senior Data Scientist roles take an average of 14 days to get hired, when considering 10 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Instacart overall takes an average of 16 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Instacart as a Senior Data Scientist according to 10 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 32%
Presentation: 23%
One on one interview: 18%
Group panel interview: 9%
Background check: 9%
Skills test: 5%
Drug test: 5%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Instacart in Jan 2022
Interview
The recruiter approached me for the Sr. DS role. I scheduled for the tech screen (in SQL for 45 min). I completed the code but was not up to the mark.
I got the feedback from the recruiter as the team is looking for a bit more experience in experimentation, and the SQL needs to be strong as it is their daily bread and butter.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
SQL A/B testing question:
Q: You are tasked to analyze an experiment called thanksgiving-coupon. Instacart users in this experiment are randomly assigned to “incentive” group or “nonincentive” group. Users in the “incentives” group get an email with $10 off for their next order, and users in the “no incentives” group get an email reminding them to stock up groceries for the Thanksgiving weekend. The $10 off coupon expires on 11/29/2020 (Sunday) 11:59pm PST.
How would you analyze this experiment?
You have the table Experiments, which contains experiment assignments for Instacart users. Fields: user_id experiment: experiment name group_ind: experiment group a user is assigned to assigned_at_utc: assignment timestamp.
You also have the Orders table, which contains all orders from a user.
Fields: user_id
order_id
order_created_timestamp_utc
order_amount_usd
You can use this code to convert time zones: order_created_timestamp_utc at time zone 'utc' at time zone 'pst'
You also have the Coupon_spend table, which contains the redeemed thanksgiving-coupon for an order. Fields: user_id
order_id
coupon_spend
I applied through other source. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Instacart in Oct 2025
Interview
First there was Tech screening followed by a Take home Assessment where we had to review an experiment and make a recommendation. The Virtual on-site (4 rounds) included one round to review the assessment from before, and other standard rounds (stats, bar raiser, hiring manager).
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Talk me through a project you've done in the past.
Some ab test and casual ml
Lots of cases, sometimes the interviewer does not seem prepared
SQL as well
Requires solid framing of problems especially in the relevant space
Practical ml and ab testing questions
Don’t have a track for metrics versus modeling for DS
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Instacart check out experience with 4 screens, purpose
I applied online. I interviewed at Instacart (California City, CA) in May 2025
Interview
Straightforward even though the process is pretty lengthy. It requires a lot time including a take home that is expected to take 5 hours but you know it usually requires 2 times as much.