Splunk Software Engineer interviews typically begin with a recruiter or HR screen, then a Karat- or HireVue-style timed assessment, followed by technical, system design, and behavioral rounds with engineers and managers. Reported timelines range from about two weeks to about a month.
$169K
Avg. Base Comp
$203K
Avg. Total Comp
3-7 rounds
Typical Rounds
2-4 weeks
Process Length
Splunk's software engineer interviews generally open with recruiter outreach or a short HR phone screen, then move into an early screening step. One candidate describes a Karat-administered round that paired 15 technical multiple-choice questions with a one-hour live coding session. In that session, the expectation was to solve two DSA problems, run the code, and verify it against test cases. Another candidate's Karat hour covered data structures and algorithms along with system design. An intern candidate instead faced a HireVue-style video interview with timed behavioral prompts, a live coding challenge, a code-improvement follow-up, and an interactive game.
Beyond that filter, the loop typically includes technical interviews with engineers. Reported questions include a hard dynamic programming regex-matching problem, a binary search and intervals question, a string manipulation problem using a hashmap, and a system design prompt to build a highly scalable Instagram-like service. A fullstack candidate described practical React work instead: implementing pagination, refactoring a component to use Context, and handling state management and events. Behavioral conversations with hiring managers, and for senior roles with product managers or a director, focus on past project leadership, handling setbacks, and debugging stories. One example is identifying which part of a slow query is consuming the most time.
Experiences vary. Some candidates found the loop friendly and well organized, while others reported vague or missing feedback after the Karat round and slow recruiter follow-up. One principal-level candidate received a downleveled offer after positive verbal signals across seven rounds, so senior candidates may want to confirm level and compensation early. Practice writing working, tested code under time pressure, and explain your reasoning as you go.
Synthesized from 16 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 Splunk process.
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 Splunk
Write a query that returns all neighborhoods that have 0 users.
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Basic Regex | |
| Slow SQL Query | |
| Last Page Number | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| String Shift | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Largest Salary by Department | |
| Top 5 Turnover Risk | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Customer Orders | |
| Prime to N | |
| Minimum Change | |
| Upsell Transactions | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Find the Missing Number | |
| Raining in Seattle | |
| Find the First Non-Repeating Character in a String | |
| Rectangle Overlap | |
| Scrambled Tickets | |
| Bagging vs Boosting | |
| Flight Records | |
| The Brackets Problem | |
| Project Pairs |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report that Splunk's process often starts with a recruiter reaching out directly, sometimes via LinkedIn, or with an HR phone screen of around 30 minutes. This stage typically covers background and logistics rather than technical content, and the recruiter may explain the next step, such as a Karat assessment.
A recurring early stage is a timed assessment administered through Karat or HireVue. One candidate described 15 technical multiple-choice questions plus a one-hour live coding session with two DSA problems. Another described a Karat hour covering DSA and system design. An intern candidate had timed behavioral video prompts, a live coding challenge, a code-improvement follow-up, and an interactive game. Feedback after the Karat round is often described as minimal.
Technical rounds vary by role. Reported problems include a hard dynamic programming regex-matching question, a binary search and intervals problem, and a string manipulation question using a hashmap. One senior candidate was asked to design a highly scalable Instagram-like system. A fullstack candidate described React tasks such as implementing pagination, refactoring a component to use Context, and handling state management and events.
Later rounds typically involve a hiring manager. For senior or principal roles, they can also include a product manager and a director of engineering. Candidates say these rounds focus on past project leadership, how they handled setbacks, and in some cases how they debug performance issues or identify which part of a query is consuming the most time.
Reported timelines include about two weeks from first contact to the final round and about a month for a longer senior loop. Communication between steps can be slow. One principal-level candidate said verbal feedback felt positive throughout but the final offer came at a lower level, so senior candidates may want to clarify leveling and compensation early.
