I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Pinterest in Mar 2023
Interview
- Applied through referral - 1 hr technical phone screen asking advanced technical questions then ds/algo type question - Onsite with 1 behaviorial, 1 system design, 1 coding, 1 debugging, 1 ds/algo
All my interviewers were really really nice, but not exactly helpful. If you ask anyone who works there what they wish were better about Pinterest, they'll say the "worst" thing about Pinterest is that everyone is too nice and that prevents growth sometimes, and you get a taste of that during the process.
When I was struggling a bit with the prompt for system design and tried to get better direction, the interviewer just smiled and said that I was doing great instead of answering my questions on what I should focus on. It was really hard to get feedback and it was not a good two way conversation. I couldn't tell if they were paying attention honestly, so if I had to do it again I'd probably be a little more forceful about what I should focus on instead of rambling aimlessly. Usually even if I don't do well during these rounds I learn something, but I didn't really learn anything here. My interviewer didn't make me take anything into consideration.
I felt something similarly during the coding rounds - a lot of smiles and assurances but not a lot of feedback. In the end though, it was just a really tough interview and I got stuck on the coding round since it was something I wasn't familiar with, similar to coding a game, and that's on me. I wished they were more direct that's all.
After all that, no feedback provided by the recruiter - par for the course.
12
Other Software Engineer Interview Reviews for Pinterest
1st round technical phone screening with in 1 hour.
One follow up question was asked.
The problem was not too hard, but it requires you finish really fast without bugs.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Leetcode 1564. Put Boxes Into the Warehouse I.
Follow up: what is maximum total box sizes.
Recruiter call, tech round, onsite and rejection call. They sent me an email about a week after the last onsite and asked me to schedule a call on the same day. I scheduled a call to listen 30 second long rejection notice. A half of interview rounds were horrible. Interviewers were not prepared and arrogant.
Good experience not the best outcome. Was 1000% sure I completed all coding and sys design but was told didn't get enough signal for the competency round. Overall very organized but not very satisfied with the response.