I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Stripe (Chicago, IL) in Jun 2021
Interview
The entire interview process was clearly laid out for me from the start.
Round 1
- 1 hour manager chat about previous experience and work
- 1 hour systems design problem
Round 2
- 1 hour technical presentation section where you write a 1000 word brief about a project that you led that highlights your technical and leadership skills. This has to be completed 24 hrs prior to the interview. Then you have to prepare a 20 min presentation talking about that brief which you will then give to a small group of people during this time. Then that group asks you questions about the brief/project.
- 1 hour coding session: Problem is something you would see in day to day work and you can solve it in any language you are most comfortable with
- 1 hour systems design. This systems design question is more advanced than the first one.
- 1 hour Adaptability session where you talk about your leadership and people skills
I applied through other source. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Stripe (Boston, MA) in Jan 2022
Interview
A very friendly interview process, clear instructions and expectations were communicated very well. Overall a very standard tech interview which covered basic code familiarity, advanced system design in addition to culture, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
System design interview question was "how to design a durable ledger".
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Stripe (Berlin) in Nov 2021
Interview
The interview process consists of multiple steps:
1) general interview with a recruiter,
2) experience and goals interview,
3) design interview 1,
4) design interview 2,
5) writing and presentation of a technical project you have been involved in,
6) adaptability interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
This depends highly on the type of interview mentioned above.
For 2) the interview happens with an Engineering Manager who will ask questions about the current and former roles, experiences and how you handled specific situation as well as how you lead the team.
For 3) and 4) this is a real-world task to design a system with certain requirements. Focus is here to keep it simple and offer options on how to scale the system later on as well as your argumentation on why you recommend a certain technology.
For 5) you will be asked to write no more than 1000 words about a project you led. The focus is on technical depth and acumen, clarity of thought and expression as well as organization and structure of the document. In another interview you will be asked to present this to two engineers that might go into more detail as well.
For 6) the focus is on how well you can adapt to certain situations. Mainly you will be asked about difficult technical or inter-personal situations and how you adapted as the environment changed.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Stripe (Dublin, Dublin) in Sep 2021
Interview
This was a very disappointing interview process. I had read a lot about how Stripe's interview process was "different" and not like your typical interview process. While this is true, I feel they have not improved on the traditional interview process and have ultimately made it worse. I also felt Stripe had no appreciation for my time as an interviewee and Stripe was quite happy to continually waste my time.
The interview process consisted of:
* A recruiter interview;
** The recruiter reached out to me, Stripe had been aggressive about contacting me via Linkedin. By the time I went through this interview loop I had been contacted 5 separate times by different people at Stripe.
* A design 1 interview;
* A hiring manager interview;
* A take home 1000 word essay;
This was then followed by the main interview loop.
* A programming interview;
* A second design interview;
* A project management interview, discussing the 1000 word essay;
* An adaptability interview.
In my case, the final interview of my day was canceled as the interviewer was not available. The interview was rescheduled a week later. After the rescheduled interview, I waited for six business days, 8 days total, and heard no reply. I then reached out to my recruiter who then scheduled another Zoom meeting to discuss the interview process. The recruiter let me know that my second to last interview performance was not good enough to proceed to the offer stage. Stripe had no intention of making me an offer but still thought it was acceptable to schedule the final interview and then not provide any feedback until I reached out after a week of no contact. I firmly believe that if I had not reached out, Stripe would not have sent me any feedback or any information on their final decision.
I was extremely disappointed by Stripe's interview process, they seem to have absolutely no regard for their candidate's personal time.
The interviewers themselves were friendly and professional but very few had anything good to say about Stripe. A number of the interviewers responded to my questions about the company by criticizing the company and the management structure. No one had a good overview of the company culture, and I was met with the "I'm the wrong person to ask about culture" response. I was unable to get a convincing answer about what the engineering culture in Stripe is actually like.
I would not suggest anyone interview with Stripe, as they are quite happy to waste your time. Disappointing experience.
Staff Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Stripe with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 45.9% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Staff Engineer roles take an average of 33 days to get hired, when considering 2 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Stripe overall takes an average of 26 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Stripe as a Staff Engineer according to 2 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 22%
One on one interview: 22%
Presentation: 11%
Group panel interview: 11%
Background check: 11%
Personality test: 11%
Skills test: 11%
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