I applied online. I interviewed at Alpaca in Aug 2024
Interview
Take home assignment + technical interview. Seem to have been ghosted following the technical interview. They mention knowledge of compiled languages to be useful but internally they exclusively use Go (which I did not complete my work in).
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
This problem is related to the Hungarian lottery. In case you are not familiar with it: players pick 5 distinct numbers from 1 to 90. There is a weekly lottery picking event when the lotto organization picks 5 distinct numbers randomly between 1 and 90- just like the players did. The player's reward then depends on how many of the player's numbers match with the ones selected at the lotto picking. A player wins if he/she has 2, 3, 4 or 5 matching numbers. Now, the problem: at the lottery event, right after picking the numbers, a computer shall be able to report quickly that how many winners are in each category. This report shall be generated within a couple of seconds after picking the winner number. The player's numbers are known in advance - at least 1 hour ahead of the show. In peak periods there are about 5 million players, but to be sure we can assume it is not exceeding 10 million.
I applied online. I interviewed at Alpaca (Toronto, ON) in Mar 2026
Interview
Recruiter Screen -> Take Home Test -> Hiring Manager Screen -> System Design & General Questions cutting across SQL, OOP and Language of Choice -> CTO Screen (vibe check, questions like what is the closest you have been to dying?).
- Didn't hear back from them, from other reviews it appears this is quite common.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- Take Home Test is the famous 'Hungarian Lottery', you can look it up.
I applied online. I interviewed at Alpaca in Jan 2026
Interview
The interview process consisted of an initial screening call with the recruiter, followed by a 45-minute conversation with the hiring manager focused on my background and motivations. After that, I completed two additional rounds: one technical interview centered on React and another focused on system design.
After completing all stages, I never received any follow-up or decision. No rejection, no feedback, no response to outreach. Being ghosted after investing significant time and preparation is highly unprofessional and reflects poorly on the company’s hiring process.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Alpaca (Budapest)
Interview
Offer was made after a few rounds of interview process. Met with the hiring manager, and a technical round, and then a meeting with the CTO and Co-founder. Know your basics and have good stories to showcase your skills and experience.
