Twitter Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated Jan 22, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 18 ratings 
“Average” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 18 ratings
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See who your friends know who've worked at Twitter and could give you an inside look.
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| 1–10 of 18 Twitter Interviews | Sort by |
Software Engineer Intern at Twitter
Posted Jan 22, 2012 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Dec 2011 (took a day)
I conducted an initial phone interview with a Twitter engineer via the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers program. I interacted with two HR people via email before the phone interview.
The interview lasted about 30 minutes, and he only asked one technical question: implement the "getElementsByClassName" function using a simplified model of the DOM. This was based on my stated preference for front-end engineering. I went with a recursive solution to the problem, and after a couple minutes had it working most of the way. We talked about improvements to be made, such as a non-recursive algorithm, that would improve it's efficiency. Then I asked a few questions about Twitter.
I thought the question went reasonably well as I answered it correctly, but was surprised about the lack of other technical questions. He said I would get a followup within three days, but eventually I contacted the HR person to ask about the status of my application and got a rejection email very soon after with little explanation.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Staffing Agency and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
More Twitter Software Engineer Intern Interviews
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Twitter
Posted Jan 2, 2012 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Dec 2011 (took 2 weeks)
I was contacted by an internal recruiter and agreed to interview. A phone interview was set up by another person, where all of my personal information was incorrect, so I had to confirm my details. This was a Skype interview. After I passed the first round, another phone interview round was scheduled, where again, my personal information was incorrect, so I had to confirm again. This round was also supposed to be over Skype, but the interviewer called me on the phone instead. Both rounds had fairly easy questions with collaborative coding on the web. I knew I didn't make it after the second round, but haven't heard back from the recruiter after that.
Overall, the interviews themselves were fair, but the organization was just absolutely terrible.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
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Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Twitter
Posted Dec 30, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2011 in San Francisco, CA (took a day)
One technical interview, asked me a tree related problem, not solving the problem quickly enough, failed..
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
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Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Twitter
Posted Dec 25, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Dec 2011 in San Francisco, CA (took 1 week)
The recruiter set up the date and time.
The engineer asked me to introduce myself then to code on collabedit.com. He has only one question.
Interview Questions
You pick one element from each set of choices.
Generate all possible picking.
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
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Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Recruiter/Sourcer at Twitter
Posted Dec 12, 2011 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2011 in San Francisco, CA (took a day)
Referred by a colleague who previously worked with the Director for Talent Acquisition; I was immediately invited in for an onsite interview. Prior to, I spent time researching Twitter's platform, technical staff, search patterns, etc.
Tele-communication (calling from the outside in) is an ongoing issue; you won't be able to call into Twitter to speak with an internal staff person if you need to confirm directions, your arrival time, traffic pile-ups, etc.--I encountered two driving from the South Bay into the City at 2pm!! This was frustrating as the coordinating staff's information for BART/parking was incomplete at best.
I arrive for the interview running behind schedule, just as the coordinator is actually calling me on my cell phone as I walk into the building...ironic. She explained, they have 'no phones' at their desks and that there was a problem with the phone at the front desk....???? What's up with that???
The interviewers consisted of two engineers who asked about sourcing and offer guidelines, two recruiters who asked standard recruiting/sourcing questions (boolean strings, sites used, etc.), and the Director. I spoke with the Director, then the recruiters (my total time investment was FIVE and a quarter hours--an hour and a quarter driving up, two and a half hours onsite, and one and a half hours in return traffic).
The Director immediately shoots 'technical engineering type questions' -- even though I know the answers I'm completely caught off guard and thinking to myself, why the heck is he asking me about 'Software life cycle', 'what is object oriented design'...??? Then another more appropriate recruiting question; 'You have 90 days and unlimited budget to recruit 100 engineers, without which the company will fail; what do you do? -- answered accordingly.
When I interviewed with the recruiters, as their side of the interview draws to a close they ask if I have any questions. I'm very curious about how technically astute each of them is, so I ask them individually to please explain the 'software life cycle' .... their answers were incorrect/skewed.
Overall the interview seemed to go well with positive feedback from each interviewer -- the Director ended by saying....'we all know how it is to be on the waiting end so I assure you that will not be the case. I have my notes and we'll be debriefing and get back to you by the end of the week.' That's an indirect quote but not far from actual content. I sent 'Thank You' notes and follow-up emails. That was the absolute LAST I ever heard from Twitter.
Hypothetically -- You have a candidate referred by a "personal colleague", coming to your San Francisco office from the South Bay, sends you a 'Thank You' note and follow-up notes -- never mind the cold-shoulder the candidate gets, but refusal to acknowledge that FIVE AND A QUARTER hours out of that candidate's time/life warrants no acknowledgement or is less valuable than yours!!, well that's just a plain ugly candidate experience.
My initial reluctance to share this experience was because I thought it was a fluke/an individual experience--the world's largest micro blog can't possibly be so irresponsible in closing the loop with candidates--particularly onsite candidate...? I've since learned from internal Twitter ppl as well as others who have interviewed, this is par for the course. Great tool...poor practices.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I applied In-Person and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Business Analyst at Twitter
Posted Dec 6, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2011 in San Francisco, CA (took a day)
The first phone interview I was stood up and did not get an explanation until I followed up with the recruiter a few times. The 2nd phone interview went well but it was mostly an exchange of information - to know the role and the position better. It sounded like a good fit so he let me know we were ready to move on but there was no transparency into the movement and I later found out from my employee referral that I was just a back-up candidate as they already sent an offer out for the role.
Overall, it just seems that applicants have no control or power whatsoever and employers can do whatever they want with people's time. Makes sense in this economy but its not a very positive situation.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineering at Twitter
Posted Dec 2, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2011 (took 1+ week)
Multithreading and coding questions. Pretty easy but it seems they don't like me.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Research Engineer at Twitter
Posted Aug 1, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2011 in San Francisco, CA (took 4+ weeks)
A recruiter contacted me over Linkedin citing that I will be a good match for one of their Research Engineering positions. This position was a mix and match of Analytics and pre sales. Had 2 rounds of generic phone interviews. Nothing technical at all. Then I was invited for onsite interview at their head quarters in San Francisco. There were 4 rounds of 1:1 interviews. 2 technical and 2 rounds of general domain knowledge. Technical rounds were a bit challenging, but manageable.Nobody is clear about the revenue model and long term business goals. So any question on that regard is not desirable. Everybody looked busy with their schedule. they have been interviewing ton of people off late. 3 weeks after onsite interview was notified that the hiring manager was not interested!
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Twitter
Posted Jun 24, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2011 in San Francisco, CA (took 4 weeks)
Three phone interviews and one on-site interview. First phone interview with the recruiter and the second and third interview were with members of the team they had the positions open for. The offices are great and seems like a happening place and a fun place to to work at. The people at Twitter are super cool and laid back.
The interviews were not that hard but engineers might have been picky on what they are looking for. Like some of the other reviews here say, a lot of the engineers that I talked to were ex-googlers, and they were there when Google was sexier than it is now as a place to work at. So they have the picky kind of attitude of the earlier Google.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Skills Test.
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Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Business Development at Twitter
Posted Apr 19, 2011 — 2 of 2 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2011 in San Francisco, CA (took 4+ weeks)
My friend recommended that I apply for a job and I sent him my resume. I got a email asking for a phone interview with a recruiter, which went well. It took a long time after that for any response and then I get an invitation for an in person interview. I met with some people on the BD/Sales teams during the first interview, which went well but it was pretty clear that the employees had very little clear vision or product direction. I was surprised by some of their answers to questions I had as to the company and products. I was invited back for a second interview, where I meet more senior level executives and other cross functional members of other departments. Again the interview went well, but again there was very little passion of focus from anyone I interviewed with. Almost universally my questions were answered with generic "twitter is growing fast" answers, but no clear path about what makes twitter different than other companies and how they were going to succeed in a crowded marketplace. I liked the people there and the focus on perfection in existing products and business was clear (very data driven like Google - not surprising since many of the employees worked for Google).
A very huge negative about the whole process is after each interaction Twitter provides very little to no feedback unless you take proactive action and reach out to them. Very unprofessional, especially when interviewing for more senior roles. I eventually received an offer (above market salary, low stock compensation) but turned it down due to my questions about the long term business model and lack of direction at the company.
Interview Questions
Reason for Declining
The offer was good and Twitter is a compelling place to work if you need to get experience on your resume. It seems like it could be fun, but there are many red flags (some mentioned above) about the company's direction and business model. At this point their equity package is too low to make up for the extreme risk.
Other Details
I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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