I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Rivian in Feb 2021
Interview
One initial introducing call, followed by one technical phone screen.
(Hiring manager reached out to me instead of HR, probably because of their hiring surge and they are definitely hiring a lot.)
Then a VO with 4 rounds total, across 2 days. Coding question are just general data structure and Algo concept. System design and technical depth are separated into 2 rounds.
Overall was not a hard interview. Keep in mind that pre-ipo companies like Rivian are more generous in RSU instead of base, and overall the TC is not competitive.
Anyway I went with another company at the end and didn't bother countering back with Rivian.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Normal medium level coding questions, system design etc.
5 rounds of interviews. HR, HM, Live Coding, System design, Cross functional. Lasts about a week or two in total. All were done online. All in all a good experience.
7 rounds of Interviews
Mix of HR, Resume Deep Dives, System Design and Coding interviews (C++, CUDA, Python , Pytorch)
System Design Focus on autonomous driving for higher Levels of autonomy
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Rivian in Sep 2025
Interview
i had total of 4 rounds of coding and 2 system designs
i struggled with 1 coding round, i wrote the solution but it didn't pass all the test cases, i guess it was considered as failure, which i can understand
they conducted additional round of coding and i solved the problem even with the follow up question.
Rivian decided to give me down level offer which is 50% of the salary that i was getting from one of faang company.
very disappointing.
Recruiter told me their bar is so high (but not the salary) and i am not good enough for senior role.