DraftKings Software Engineer candidates commonly report a recruiter screen, a HackerRank discount-validation coding task, an object-oriented design round, a project deep dive, and a manager conversation.
$149K
Avg. Base Comp
$178K
Avg. Total Comp
4-5 rounds
Typical Rounds
4 weeks
Process Length
Several DraftKings Software Engineer candidates describe a similar loop: a recruiter conversation, a HackerRank coding task, an object-oriented design round, a project deep dive, and a manager or behavioral conversation. Not every report matches exactly, and some describe shorter or longer versions.
The most repeated coding theme is a customer and discount problem. One candidate describes the HackerRank coding round as four scenarios, and another describes a multi-part validation task. That report involved limits on discounts per customer, spend-based customer classes, and a discussion of what breaks when data is too large for memory. Candidates also mention using dictionaries for fast lookups and being asked to explain time complexity as they go.
The design round is the other recurring theme. Reports mention a restaurant system with robot waiters, where the interviewer extends the scenario with new requirements such as cleaning robots and shared functions. Practice drawing domain objects, relationships and services, then updating the model when new conditions are added verbally.
The project deep dive appears to carry real weight. One candidate attributed a rejection to a project that did not impress the hiring manager, and another felt the interviewer wanted more hand-built system detail than a cloud-heavy example provided. Pick a project you can explain end to end, including your own contribution, bottlenecks, tradeoffs and deadlines.
Most outcomes in the reports are rejections, and some candidates mention slow communication between steps.
Synthesized from 18 candidate reports by our editorial team.
Had an interview recently?
Share your experience. Unlock the full guide.
Real interview reports from people who went through the Draftkings process.
Stages:
Questions asked: Questions on Design Patterns. Questions on the difference between Monolith and Microservices. Time complexity in several situations. Data structures DFS and BFS in one problem.
Share your own interview experience to unlock all reports, or subscribe for full access.
Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Draftkings
You work as a data scientist for ride-sharing company. An executive asks how you would evaluate whether a 50% rider discount promotion is a good or bad idea? How would you implement it? What metrics would you track?
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Why Do You Want to Work With Us | |
| Processing Large CSV | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Integer to Roman | |
| P-value to a Layman | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Nearest Common Ancestor | |
| Groups of Anagrams | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Centralized Event Ingestion | |
| Tower of Hanoi | |
| Valid Anagram | |
| Find Duplicate Numbers in a List | |
| Spam Classifier | |
| Customer Success vs. Free Trial | |
| Track Your Most Valuable Gamers | |
| Matrix Rotation | |
| KNN From Scratch | |
| Subscription Retention | |
| Concurrent LLM Serving | |
| Video Game Respawn Model | |
| Implementing the Fibonacci Sequence in Three Different Methods | |
| Worker Distribution Dilemma | |
| User Event Data Pipeline | |
| Moving Window | |
| Confidence Interval Explanation | |
| Loan Model | |
| Cloud-Agnostic Deployments | |
| Deciding Between Solutions |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report an initial recruiter or HR conversation of roughly 30 minutes covering background, the company and team, and in some cases salary expectations. It is typically conversational. One candidate says the recruiter will share context before technical rounds if asked.
Several candidates report a HackerRank coding round built around customers and discounts, with one describing four scenarios. Candidates mention dictionary-based solutions, validation rules, and explaining time complexity. One candidate reports the interviewer gave hints when needed.
Candidates report an OOD or system design round, sometimes on HackerRank, using a restaurant with robots as waiters. The interviewer may keep extending the scenario, for example by adding cleaning robots. Expect to adjust your domain objects, shared functions and services as new requirements arrive.
Candidates report choosing a past project and explaining architecture, tools, bottlenecks, challenges and fixes. Reports suggest this round can weigh heavily, and one candidate was told the chosen project was not strong enough. Preparing a project with clear personal ownership and tradeoffs is a reasonable approach.
Candidates report a manager or behavioral round covering leadership, mentorship, teamwork, conflict and handling a lagging teammate. Some describe what-if questions about urgent bugs or going above and beyond. The number of behavioral rounds varies by report.
