Two candidates report Dialpad Software Engineer interviews with hiring manager calls, LeetCode-style technical rounds and slow or thin feedback. Here is how those reports differ and how to prepare.
$127K
Avg. Base Comp
$159K
Avg. Total Comp
4-5 rounds
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Two candidates who interviewed for Dialpad Software Engineer roles describe different processes, so treat the details below as individual reports. Neither received an offer.
One candidate describes five roughly hour-long rounds: a hiring manager conversation, three technical assessments and a culture-fit interview. The technical questions were LeetCode-style string and array problems, and the candidate had to explain the complexity of each solution in Big O terms. The engineers were described as friendly. Practice talking through a solution and its trade-offs, not only reaching working code.
The other candidate describes a more disorganized path. A hiring manager call was followed by a switch to a different team, which meant a second hiring manager call. Then came two technical interviews and an HR round. Questions included drawing a clock pointing in different directions and a conceptual question on the CAP theorem. That candidate waited two weeks without a reply and found the interviewers disengaged. Be ready for an occasional off-pattern prompt, and keep following up politely if the schedule goes quiet.
A separate Sr. SDET candidate was cut after a first technical round. It covered past projects, negative-scenario questions and three string or API tasks. The interviewer wanted one of them solved in Python, and the candidate's recursive approach was not what he had in mind. That is a different role, but it suggests confirming the preferred language and approach before you code. Two candidates mention asking for feedback or getting little of it, so do not rely on a detailed debrief.
Synthesized from 3 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Dialpad process.
I was cut after the first technical round, and the reason had more to do with how I solved the problems than whether I got them right. The process started with a casual phone call with HR, who asked about my background and walked me through what Dialpad does and its revenue. The technical round opened with questions about my past projects, followed by a few negative-scenario framing questions. Then came three coding problems: reverse a string, count the repeated characters in a string, and pull one specific value out of an API response.
I solved the first two in Java and the third with Robot Framework. The interviewer wanted the repeated-characters problem done in Python, and the recursive approach I used wasn't what he had in mind. My takeaway is that to get through, you need to write the solution the way the interviewer is picturing it, not just a working one. The conversation also made clear they expect testers to be as well versed as developers. That's a reasonable bar, but the pay they were offering didn't match it, which made the rejection harder to swallow.
I was not selected after that first technical round, and the feedback I got was narrow, so I walked away mostly knowing what not to do next time.
Prep tip from this candidate
Before the coding rounds, ask which language they want for each problem, and practice string tasks in Python with iterative solutions rather than recursion, since the interviewer pushed back on a recursive approach. Also be ready to explain your past projects and how you'd handle failure scenarios, because those came up early in the technical round.
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Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Both Software Engineer candidates report a hiring manager call early on. One candidate was moved to a different team after a different candidate was routed into the original role, and had to repeat this call. Be ready to discuss your background, and confirm which team you are interviewing for.
One candidate reports three technical assessments of about an hour each, with LeetCode-style string and array problems. They had to explain each solution using Big O notation. Another candidate reports two technical interviews. Practice clear walkthroughs and stating complexity out loud.
One candidate reports being asked to draw a clock pointing in different directions, and another interviewer asked about the CAP theorem. Only one candidate reports this, so it may not recur. A short review of distributed systems basics and comfort with unusual prompts may help.
One candidate describes a final culture-fit interview, and the other describes an HR round alongside the technical interviews. Prepare to discuss your background and what you want from the role.
Both Software Engineer candidates ended with no offer. One had to request feedback, which they found limited. The other heard nothing for two weeks, even after emailing. Plan to follow up and do not expect a detailed debrief.
