Candidates describe Yelp's software engineer interview as an online assessment, recruiter and project conversations, then a four-round virtual onsite of coding, system design and behavioral questions.
$133K
Avg. Base Comp
$205K
Avg. Total Comp
Not reported
Typical Rounds
4-5 weeks
Process Length
Candidates who describe Yelp software engineer loops report a fairly consistent shape: an online coding assessment (often HackerRank), a recruiter conversation, a behavioral interview built around a past project, and a virtual onsite of four back-to-back rounds. Several describe two coding rounds, one system design round and one behavioral round. One candidate described the final stage as a four-hour panel, and another had four interviews packed into one day with only a short break.
The coding questions are described as easy-to-medium, LeetCode-style problems, sometimes framed around Yelp's product. Reported examples include:
Some candidates say interviewers added constraints after a first working answer, so practice extending a solution instead of stopping at the first pass.
System design prompts reported by candidates include letting users download all the data they have shared, including images and video, and designing a new feature that fits Yelp's product. Another account describes an intro-level design question covering foundational concepts. Expect to explain trade-offs aloud.
Behavioral rounds lean on project depth, conflict resolution and motivation, so have one or two project stories ready with specific obstacles. Stamina matters too: one candidate found the packed final day exhausting. Several candidates did not receive an offer, and one described receiving no response after the final round.
Synthesized from 10 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Yelp
Determine whether there exists a permutation of an input string that is a palindrome.
| Question | |
|---|---|
| The Brackets Problem | |
| Flatten N-Dimensional Array to 1D Array | |
| N-gram Dictionary | |
| Groups of Anagrams | |
| Sort Strings | |
| Valid Anagram | |
| Reservoir Sampling Stream | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Target Indices | |
| Common Prefix | |
| Slow SQL Query | |
| Yelp-like System | |
| A Simpler KNN From Scratch | |
| String Palindromes | |
| Find Mismatched Words | |
| Azure Kubernetes Infrastructure | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Evaluate News | |
| LRU Cache 1 | |
| Sum Numbers As Strings | |
| Length Of Longest Palindrome | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Subscription Overlap |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Several candidates report starting with a HackerRank coding assessment. Accounts range from straightforward to a real filter, with moderately challenging algorithm problems. It typically makes sense to prepare with timed easy-to-medium data structures and algorithms practice before the recruiter stage.
Candidates report a recruiter or HR conversation, described by one as a 30-minute screening and by another as relaxed and peer-like. It tends to cover your background, interest in the role and how the process works. One candidate described a recruiter call that walked through the whole process clearly.
Some candidates describe a behavioral interview, sometimes with a team member or lead engineer, centered on a past project and the obstacles in it. Conflict-resolution questions were also mentioned. A junior candidate said the project discussion moved quickly, so concise stories may help.
Multiple candidates report a virtual onsite with four back-to-back interviews: typically two coding rounds, one system design round and one behavioral round. Coding is described as easy-to-medium and sometimes Yelp-flavored. One candidate described four 45-minute sessions, and another had the interviews packed into one day with a short break.
One candidate reported the process took about a month plus another week for a decision, and another described a short follow-up call with a team manager weeks later. Another reported receiving no response after the final round. Timing may vary, so ask your recruiter what to expect.
