Candidates describe Upstart's Software Engineer loop as a recruiter screen, timed or live coding, system design, a project round, and hiring manager conversations, though the exact rounds and timeline vary by report.
$168K
Avg. Base Comp
$233K
Avg. Total Comp
Not reported
Typical Rounds
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Process Length
Candidates describe Upstart's Software Engineer process as a mix of timed coding, system design, a hands-on project round, and hiring manager conversations. The exact loop varies by report, so check the schedule with your recruiter and ask what each round will cover. More than one candidate said the format of later rounds was unclear going in.
The coding portion is where reports diverge most. One candidate faced a CodeSignal assessment with three problems capped at 7, 15 and 30 minutes, including an anagram-bucketing and a string-decoding question, with the last reaching LeetCode medium-hard. Another described four LeetCode-style questions in 60 minutes, followed by a brief AI-reviewed follow-up with a two-minute response window. A third had an hour-long live round with two problems, one medium and one that felt hard, and could not finish both. Practice finishing clean solutions fast and asking clarifying questions early, since time pressure is the most common complaint.
System design questions that candidates name include a ledger system and an online chess system. One candidate said the interviewers let them lead and choose their own diagramming tool. The project round draws the most positive comments. One candidate described working on a real company problem with an engaged panel. Another was told they could use AI tools such as Cursor or ChatGPT in that stage, so confirm the rules beforehand. One candidate also had a separate app coding round: building a Spotify-like app in Ruby on Rails in about fifty minutes, with Rails-specific follow-ups.
For the behavioral side, candidates report hiring manager conversations about past projects, plus questions such as the most challenging thing you have worked on. One candidate was turned down after the manager felt their project explanation lacked detail, so prepare to go deep without being prompted. Several candidates also mention slow communication between rounds.
Synthesized from 15 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Upstart process.
The recruiter was friendly enough, and I went in thinking the process would be straightforward. It turned out to be five rounds total: a system design round, a project round, a coding round, a values round, and finally a hiring manager round. None of the questions felt particularly difficult or novel — they were the kind of standard problems you'd expect for a software engineer role.
The technical rounds themselves weren't the issue. I did okay on the system design and project discussions. The coding round threw a LeetCode-medium problem at me with lots of edge cases. I walked through my thought process, identified what algorithm would work, but got tripped up on an implementation detail. The thing that frustrated me was that the interviewer just watched me struggle without really engaging — no questions to nudge me in the right direction, no actual collaborative problem-solving. It felt less like an interview and more like a test where they wanted me to produce a perfect solution from memory.
But the real red flags came later. The values round interviewer seemed completely checked out — they had a list of questions and just rushed through them rapid-fire, and I got the sense they didn't actually follow or care about what I was saying about my contributions or how I aligned with company values. Then the hiring manager round was worse. They seemed distracted the whole time, and their answers to my questions sounded rehearsed and hollow. The vibe was just off.
I got rejected with feedback that I wasn't a cultural fit. Looking back at the process and the company reviews, I genuinely dodged a bullet. The interview experience itself felt misaligned — technical interviewers who seemed more interested in gotchas than in how I actually solve problems, and leadership who didn't seem genuinely engaged.
Prep tip from this candidate
The technical rounds focus on LeetCode-medium problems with emphasis on edge cases and implementation details. Be prepared to code a complete, working solution under pressure — the interviewer may not provide collaborative feedback during the round. Also pay attention to company culture signals during your own interviews; a disengaged hiring manager or values interviewer can tell you a lot about team dynamics.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Upstart
Find the maximum profit from at most two stock buy/sell transactions
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Rectangle Overlap | |
| FAQ Matching | |
| Possible Triangles | |
| Mapping Nicknames | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Using APIs for Downstream Tasks | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| String Shift | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Top 5 Turnover Risk | |
| Like Tracker | |
| Find the First Non-Repeating Character in a String | |
| Bagging vs Boosting | |
| Total Spent on Products | |
| P-value to a Layman | |
| Prime to N | |
| Cumulative Distribution | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Over-Budget Projects | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report a recruiter call or phone screen covering background, sometimes with an outline of later rounds. Experiences vary: one candidate found scheduling smooth, while others said the format of later rounds was unclear. Ask directly what each round will cover.
Candidates report a timed online assessment, for example CodeSignal with 7, 15 and 30 minute problems, or four problems in 60 minutes. Some loops also include live coding. Reported difficulty reaches LeetCode medium-hard, and time pressure is the main challenge. Practice strings, anagrams, and clarifying requirements aloud.
Candidates describe design prompts such as a ledger system and an online chess system. One candidate said the interviewers let them lead and choose diagramming tools. Prepare to explain trade-offs and revise decisions as you go.
One candidate collaborated with an engaged panel on a real company problem. Another was allowed to use AI tools such as Cursor or ChatGPT. In one loop, a separate round asked for a Spotify-like app in Ruby on Rails in about fifty minutes. Confirm the format and the tools allowed beforehand.
Candidates report hiring manager rounds covering past projects, technical depth, and behavioral questions such as the most challenging thing they have worked on. One candidate was turned down after the manager felt a project explanation lacked detail. Prepare specific stories and questions of your own.
