Travelers software engineer candidates report a short phone screen, conversational interviews with hiring managers and engineers, and resume-focused behavioral and technical questions, often with little or no live coding.
$122K
Avg. Base Comp
$139K
Avg. Total Comp
Not reported
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Candidates who interviewed for Travelers software engineer roles most often describe a conversational process that rewards detailed knowledge of your own resume over algorithm drilling. Several candidates report no live coding or heavy coding challenge. Interviewers repeatedly asked about past projects, GitHub work and the technical decisions behind them, and one candidate advised knowing the ins and outs of everything on your resume.
Technical questions tend to be tied to your stack. One candidate whose recruiter call covered C# and AWS was later asked about .NET and SQL fundamentals, including interfaces, protected access, generics, design patterns and clustered indexes. Merge sort comes up more than once: one candidate was told to expect a whiteboard implementation, and another was asked to trace through it verbally in a language of their choice.
Behavioral questions carry real weight. Candidates report being asked about overcoming challenges, leadership, time management, handling stress, staying current with technology, motivation for joining Travelers and a project they were proud of.
The number of rounds varies by team and level. Reports range from one main hour-long interview to a phone screen followed by three Zoom interviews in one day and a fourth conversation. Outcomes are mixed: one rejection was attributed to the role being filled and another to an internal candidate being selected. Prepare specific stories, rehearse a clear account of every project you list, and refresh the fundamentals of the languages named in the job posting.
Synthesized from 16 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Travelers process.
The hour-long in-person session was the part I was most nervous about, and I think it's where the offer was decided. Everything before it moved at a fairly relaxed pace. I applied through LinkedIn, and a recruiter reached out within a week for a short 15-minute screen. About a month later I had an HR screening that covered my experience and tech stack. There was one simple technical question, and the recruiter told me at the end of the call that I was moving on.
The hiring manager interview came about a week after that. It was a 30-minute video call with a senior engineer who oversees the role. They asked two straightforward technical questions, then spent most of the time on my background and resume. Before we hung up, they told me I'd be going to the final round.
The final round was in person at the office with two lead engineers from the team and the hiring manager. It ran about an hour and went into deeper technical topics tied to my past work. A lot of that time went to my resume. They wanted to be sure I actually understood the projects I'd listed, so nearly every line got poked at. There was no coding at any point. The questions were more about whether I'd used a given tool and how, and what I would do in a particular scenario. When it ended, I honestly couldn't tell how it went.
About a week later the recruiter emailed asking when I could talk that afternoon about my interview experience, feedback, and interest in the company. On that call they offered me the position. My start date is about a month out, and the background check doesn't include a drug screen.
If I could go back, I'd spend less time learning new material and more time on my own resume. Know your stack, know your exact role on each project, and be ready to explain any decision you made as if someone is about to challenge it, because someone will.
Prep tip from this candidate
Be ready to defend every project on your resume, including your exact role and the decisions you made, since the in-person round spent most of its hour on exactly that. Also review the tech stack named in the application so you can answer "have you used this, and how" questions with specifics.
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Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Travelers
In which case would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm
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| Your Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| Kindergarten Feasibility | |
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| Find Duplicate Numbers in a List | |
| Duplicate Rows | |
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| Common Prefix |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report a short call covering background, motivation for Travelers and general fit, and in one case C# and AWS experience. Technical questions are typically light and tied to your resume or GitHub projects.
Candidates describe a conversational interview with the hiring manager, sometimes joined by engineers or the manager's own manager. It typically mixes behavioral questions with walkthroughs of past projects and the technical decisions behind them.
One candidate reports meeting a hiring manager and two engineers twice, covering .NET and SQL fundamentals such as interfaces, generics, design patterns and clustered indexes. Most describe no live coding, though one was told to expect a whiteboard merge sort question and another traced merge sort verbally.
One candidate was scheduled for a 60-minute in-person panel described as technical. Another reports three Zoom interviews in one day followed by a fourth conversation. Expect resume and motivation questions throughout.
One intern candidate heard back with an offer about two weeks after the interview. Rejections cited the role being filled or an internal candidate being chosen.
