Airbnb Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Airbnb.

Interview

Applied on the onsite career site, was contacted by recruiter to take HackerRank online coding challenge. They don't even give you a phone interview call, no matter what your experience level is or which reputable tech company you're coming from. Automated testing using HackerRank robot is not the right way to test experienced engineers. If we are spending our valuable time, it is fair to expect the employer to have the same skin in the game.

Interview Questions

Interview

First round was tech screen where a recruiter sat on other end of phone and watched you code online, pretty intimating because they were watching me type every single piece of code

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Airbnb (San Francisco, CA) in August 2017.

Interview

45 minute portfolio, then 6 separate 30 minute 1:1 interviews, 2 of which being culture fit - shorter then every other panel I've ever done. Everything is rushed - 1/2 the time of anywhere else I've ever interviewed. Honestly in retrospect should have done more to prepare for this and really nail down story telling. Nothing felt difficult or taxing.

Particularly impressed with the panel - awesome folks and really enjoyed the culture.

Culture fit interviews - expect them to get personal quickly.

Portfolio
45 minutes, as opposed to the usual hour at other places. Be as detailed as possible with your research methods, constraints, limitation and context setting for your research and stick to the research for examples.

Expect people to be late. Expect late responses to check ins. Expect almost no time for your own questions during the interviews.

Mixed bag overall - really loved the 1:1s and the people - really surprised at the feedback because everyone was incredibly positive during the sessions - no obvious signs that it wasn't enough. The condensed format did not feel enough time to go into enough depth on anything - if you've been working in an area that requires extra context setting before you go into depth over prepare and streamline.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Airbnb (Portland, OR) in August 2017.

Interview

Applied Online. Received email to schedule a phone interview, which ended up being pretty conversational. After that, I received an email invitation to come to a hiring meet-up. Meet-up was cool, very laid back. Large group introductions, small group mock phone calls from difficult customers they've had in the past (basically they want you to keep the customer engaged on the phone, ask questions, and eventually offer some type of Airbnb voucher to solve the problem) and then one on one interviews.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Airbnb (San Francisco, CA) in August 2017.

Interview

I had a really great call with a recruiter, who - even though I am very junior, after talking to me brought me directly onsite. They worked quickly and got me to talk to the hiring manager the next day, and then an offer almost immediately. I really felt their culture and felt hosted. Loved every minute of being there. They really understood what I was about, valued me and what I was saying even though I was significantly more junior than anyone I was talking to, and cared about what they were doing. The hiring team followed up with congratulations to me once and offer was extended.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Airbnb.

Interview

Applied through a recruiter - Fairly standard and quick process. Initial screen and company question then a technical interview the next week. Communication with the technical interviewer was sub-par ... also note it is not about solving the problem sub solving the problem most optimally.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Airbnb.

Interview

It was just a few emails with what I assume to be the Managing Editor, then a Skype call. The call lasted about 30 minutes, then we set up a test shoot to be able to assess my skills.

Interview Questions

Interview

Superb recruiter, and most interviewers were really awesome. What frustrated me though was an algo section where the interviewer wasn't clear about requirements and made contradictory statements. The interviewer also sat almost uncomfortably close to me and then proceeded to look at her *own* computer, not mine. It was super weird, and very frustrating, because algorithms is my strongest suit, having done over a hundred leetcode on my own, and I didnt get a chance to show it. I felt this was the biggest reason for my rejection.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. I interviewed at Airbnb.

Interview

I verbally accepted the offer and I am waiting to hear back from the recruiter. It’s been almost 5 months.

Sadly, bias runs deep in the hiring process which is extremely disappointing coming from a company that promotes acceptance and hospitality. The company seems to take you much more seriously if you have a competing offer from Google or Facebook, otherwise, you’re less interesting to them. Even though you nailed their +8 interviews. At the end of the day, the story of how one of their employees (look it up) negotiated his offer with them is a sad reflection of reality.

It’s all in the hands of the recruiters – the managers and engineers you meet don’t matter. In my case, my recruiter handled the situation extremely poorly. He showed 0 interest in trying to close. I turned down other compelling offers in the process of accepting theirs (which I wasn’t 100% convinced with but I really liked the mission of the company) but for reasons only the recruiter knows, that was the last time I heard back from them.

Almost every company I had interviewed with in the past followed up with a survey in order to make their process better. Not Airbnb though! They didn’t provide me with a way to express how uncomfortable and unwelcome the process made me feel and so I decided to write this post for future candidates.

To future candidates:
    • If you have other offers, make sure to discuss them with the recruiter as soon as you can.
    • Manage the process – if the recruiter doesn’t give you a deadline, specify one. It’ll be used against you otherwise.

To Airbnb recruiting team:
    • Be a host – empathize with the candidates, understand where they’re coming from. The culture of inclusion and hospitably starts with you.
    • Simplify – don’t trick the candidates. Set clear deadlines if you really care about the timelines, otherwise, don’t timelines against the candidates.
    • Listen from the candidates – situations like this happen all the time. Sometimes, it’s the candidates fault and sometimes it’s the recruiters fault. Listen to both sides.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Airbnb.

Interview

Don't bother applying for a job at Airbnb if you're over 35. This company is ageist. Recruiter interviewed me for a job that had been completely changed the night before. She knew it but didn't bother to tell me until I asked more about the job at the end of the interview. Had I know at the start I would have pitched a completely different but relevant set of skills. Shameful recruiting process.

Interview Questions