Candidates describe Indeed software engineer interviews as a Karat screen, then a long loop mixing job-matching code, heap-style whiteboard problems, resume deep dives and code review. All three reports ended without an offer.
$151K
Avg. Base Comp
$208K
Avg. Total Comp
6-7 rounds
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Three candidates who interviewed for Indeed software engineering roles describe loops that go well beyond a single algorithm screen, and all three ended without an offer. Two of them went through a Karat technical screen. One said it mixed algorithm and database questions and could be retaken within 24 hours.
The later rounds varied. One candidate described a virtual onsite with a 90-minute programming exercise built around matching job postings to search queries and sorting under constraints. That was followed by a one-hour whiteboard variant of Moving Average from Data Stream. Another candidate, interviewing for a senior role, also met a median-from-data-stream problem. Together, these reports suggest heap and sliding-window practice is worth the time.
The most distinctive format is the code review round. One candidate was given a pull request to critique as if reviewing a junior engineer's work, with a choice of language. Real bugs were planted, and naming and general quality seemed to matter too. A different candidate completed a two-week take-home, then spent one day defending it to engineers, product designers and org managers. Expect to justify design choices and edge cases, and to talk about user needs.
One candidate was also asked for a detailed walkthrough of a single project, covering decisions and tradeoffs. Pick a project you can explain in depth. Candidates also mention logistical friction, including a disjointed matching step after onsites and a long silence after the final round, so keep your own timeline notes and follow up politely.
Synthesized from 4 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Indeed.Com process.
I was contacted by an Indeed recruiter about a Software Engineer role, and what followed was an intensive three-week interview gauntlet that honestly felt disrespectful of my time. The process started with a standard thirty-minute recruiter screen, then moved into a one-hour technical screen conducted through Karat. Nothing unexpected there, but the real marathon came next.
The virtual onsite was brutal in scope: a ninety-minute programming exercise where I had to match job postings to search queries and handle sorting based on specific constraints, followed by a one-hour whiteboard problem that was essentially a variant of the Moving Average from Data Stream LeetCode problem with some tweaks. I knew I needed to nail the implementation details and be ready to defend my optimization choices. Then came a one-hour resume deep dive where they asked me to walk through a specific project in detail—not just what I built, but why I made certain implementation decisions and what tradeoffs I considered. They didn't even go through my whole resume, so it was really about going deep on something I could speak to authentically. The code review round was interesting: they gave me a pull request to critique as if I were reviewing a junior's code, and I got to choose the language. There were actual bugs to catch, but the evaluation also seemed to cover broader things like syntax, naming conventions, and general code quality. I finished with a thirty-minute closing with the hiring manager.
Despite feeling like I performed well across most of these rounds, I was completely ghosted afterward. No rejection email, no follow-up, nothing. I waited over three weeks and sent multiple follow-ups with no response. The irony is that the people I actually talked to during the process seemed genuinely great, and I left with a positive impression of Indeed's team. But that goodwill evaporated the moment they went radio silent. If you're not going to move forward with someone, you owe them basic professional courtesy—a simple rejection email takes two minutes. I can't in good conscience recommend spending this much time on their process when they don't respect the effort candidates invest.
Prep tip from this candidate
The programming exercise focuses on real Indeed job-matching problems rather than abstract DSA, so practice implementing search relevance and sorting logic. For the whiteboard, be ready to optimize heap or sliding window approaches and articulate tradeoffs clearly. Most importantly, prepare one project you know inside and out for the resume deep dive—they want to hear about your actual decision-making and tradeoffs, not just what you built.
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Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Indeed.Com
Given two sorted lists, write a function to merge them into one sorted list.
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Find Bigrams | |
| P-value to a Layman | |
| Get Top N Frequent Words | |
| Tag Counter | |
| Search Linked List | |
| Statistically Significant Test | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Bagging vs Boosting | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Raining in Seattle | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| Over-Budget Projects | |
| Weighted Keys | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Delivery Estimate Model | |
| Find the First Non-Repeating Character in a String | |
| Rectangle Overlap | |
| The Brackets Problem | |
| Permutation Palindrome | |
| Download Facts | |
| Job Recommendation | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Size of Joins | |
| User Experience Percentage |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report an opening recruiter or phone call. It covered background and motivation, and in one case salary expectations, the interview structure and what working at Indeed is like. It is typically a light conversation, but it is a good time to ask about the remaining format.
Two candidates describe a Karat-run screen. One said it mixed algorithm and database questions, and that a retake within 24 hours was allowed. Practice talking through your reasoning clearly across both algorithm and database problems.
One candidate reported two hiring manager rounds spread over a couple of weeks, focused on experience and problem-solving approach rather than deep technical questions. Another reported a 30-minute closing with the hiring manager. Prepare concise stories about your past work.
One candidate reported a 90-minute exercise matching job postings to search queries, plus a one-hour whiteboard variant of Moving Average from Data Stream. A senior candidate reported a median-from-data-stream problem. Another had a two-week take-home involving a tree-to-object list and equation syntax validation with tests.
Candidates report reviewing a pull request with real bugs, or defending their own take-home to engineers. One also had an hour-long deep dive into a single project, covering why decisions were made and what tradeoffs were weighed. Choose a project you can discuss thoroughly.
One candidate reported a single day that included engineers, product designers and org managers, with the later conversations covering user needs, design tradeoffs, culture fit and career trajectory. Another candidate reported no response after the final round, so timing after the loop may be unpredictable.
