PagerDuty Software Engineer interview typically runs 3 rounds: recruiter call, take-home challenge, hiring manager interview. It usually takes a few weeks and is professional, on time, and multi-round.
$127K
Avg. Base Comp
$386K
Avg. Total Comp
3
Typical Rounds
2-4 weeks
Process Length
Our candidates report that PagerDuty cares less about polished storytelling and more about whether you can think clearly about how software behaves in the real world. The strongest signal in the feedback is the emphasis on API architecture and system design: even when the hands-on work was described as straightforward, the interviewers still pushed into deeper architectural reasoning. That tells us they want engineers who can explain tradeoffs, not just ship code that passes a test.
A recurring theme is a slight mismatch between what candidates expect and what gets explored live. One candidate noted that Linux commands and SSH came up in a way that felt out of sync with the role, especially after being told those tools are rarely used day to day. That doesn’t mean the topic is random; it suggests they may use it as a proxy for comfort in operational environments and troubleshooting under pressure. We’ve also seen that the behavioral side is not fluffy — questions about handling unhappy customers and admitting mistakes point to a team that values calm judgment and accountability.
The overall pattern is a company that wants engineers who are personable, technically grounded, and able to reason beyond the immediate task. If you come in treating PagerDuty like a pure implementation interview, you may miss what they’re actually measuring: whether you can connect product, infrastructure, and customer impact in a credible way.
Synthetized from 1 candidates reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Pagerduty process.
The recruiter call was pretty high-energy and set a positive tone, but it ended up feeling more like a role overview than a real screening. After that, I did a take-home challenge built around their API, and it was straightforward and well structured, so that part was actually the easiest to navigate. The next round was with the hiring manager, and that’s where the process got a little awkward for me because another manager joined unexpectedly with their camera off and there was no heads-up about it. That interview mixed behavioral questions with a technical exercise using Linux commands and SSH access to a test server, which felt a bit out of sync with what I understood the day-to-day work to be. I even asked how often scripting or SSH comes up in the role, and I was told it’s rarely, if ever, part of the job, so the focus there felt misaligned.
What stood out most from the technical side was that they seemed to care about deeper architectural thinking as well, especially around API architecture and system design. The overall process was professional and on time, and I didn’t get the sense that they didn’t care, but it was definitely a multi-round interview and they expected you to be personable as well as technically solid. The behavioral questions were pretty standard, like talking through a time I dealt with a not-so-happy customer and a time I was wrong and how I handled it. In the end I didn’t get the offer, and my main takeaway was to be ready for both the API/take-home work and a more conceptual architecture conversation, while also not being surprised if they probe Linux/SSH even if it doesn’t seem central to the role.
Prep tip from this candidate
Be ready for a take-home centered on their API, then pivot into API architecture and system design questions in later rounds. Also expect at least one behavioral round with customer-handling and self-reflection prompts, plus a possible Linux/SSH exercise even if it seems tangential to the role.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
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Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
An initial conversation with the recruiter that feels more like a role overview than a strict screening. The tone is positive and high-energy, and it covers the position, team, and general expectations.
A structured take-home assignment centered on PagerDuty's API. Candidates work through a straightforward technical exercise that appears to be the easiest part of the process.
A combined behavioral and technical round with the hiring manager, and in this case an additional manager joined unexpectedly. The interview includes standard behavioral questions, a Linux/SSH exercise using a test server, and deeper discussion of API architecture and system design.