United Airlines Software Engineer interview typically runs 3 rounds: telephone interview, online skills test, and webcam interview. It usually takes a few weeks and can be slowed by reschedules.
$117K
Avg. Base Comp
$132K
Avg. Total Comp
3-4
Typical Rounds
2-6 weeks
Process Length
We've seen United lean heavily on resume-specific depth rather than abstract algorithmic difficulty. Multiple candidates reported that interviewers kept circling back to past projects, listed skills, and the exact technologies on their CVs, which means the real test is whether you can explain not just what you built, but why you made those choices and how you’d defend them under scrutiny. One candidate even described the conversation as broad but tied tightly to their background, with the interviewer probing for deep knowledge of whatever was claimed on the resume.
A recurring theme is that United seems to care about practical engineering judgment more than flashy technical breadth. Candidates were asked about SDLC, code quality, testing frameworks, OOP basics like polymorphism, and simple coding tasks such as reversing a linked list. That mix suggests they want engineers who can speak clearly about maintainability, development process, and core CS fundamentals without overcomplicating things. The strongest signal from the experiences we reviewed is that the company rewards candidates who can connect their experience to real software decisions, not just recite concepts.
We also noticed that the interview experience itself can feel uneven, with one candidate calling out repeated reschedules and a lack of momentum. That doesn’t change the technical bar, but it does mean candidates should be prepared for a process that may feel less polished than the role deserves. In practice, the people who seem to do best here are the ones who stay crisp, consistent, and specific when talking through their work, because United appears to be listening for whether your resume reflects genuine ownership.
Synthesized from 2 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the United Airlines process.
I went through four rounds at United Airlines for a software engineering role. The first round was a resume shortlist, which I passed. Round one was a face-to-face technical interview that felt relatively straightforward — they asked about data structures, fundamentals, and dug into my background pretty heavily. I got questions on map data structures and had to discuss how I'd actually used them in past projects.
Round two was the one that caught me off guard. It was an online techno-managerial interview with medium difficulty, and the scope was wider than I expected. They went deep into .NET, object-oriented programming principles, and dependency injection. There were SQL queries too — things like finding the second highest salary and window functions. They also threw in some design pattern questions, particularly around the Singleton pattern, and asked about microservices architecture and API design patterns. It wasn't purely algorithm-focused; they seemed genuinely interested in how I think about system design and best practices.
What surprised me was the breadth. Between rounds I also got some questions touching on pandas basics and machine learning fundamentals — metrics, bias and variance, logistic regression concepts. There was even an oddball puzzle thrown in about the horse race problem. The technical bar felt medium overall, but the variety meant you really needed to have solid fundamentals across the stack, not just be strong in one area. I didn't make it past round two, which was the make-or-break point in this process. Looking back, I wish I'd spent more time on SQL window functions and real-world system design thinking rather than just grinding algorithmic problems.
Prep tip from this candidate
Focus heavily on SQL window functions and practical queries like finding rank-ordered results — that came up multiple times. Also prepare for techno-managerial discussion on system design topics like microservices, dependency injection, and API patterns, as the second round goes well beyond pure algorithms.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at United Airlines
Describing a data project and its challenges
| Question | |
|---|---|
| KNN From Scratch | |
| A Simpler KNN From Scratch | |
| Text Editor With OOP | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Weighted Keys | |
| Maximum Profit | |
| Download Facts | |
| Sum to N | |
| User Experience Percentage | |
| Distance Traveled | |
| Manager Team Sizes | |
| Size of Joins | |
| P-value to a Layman | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Third Purchase | |
| Groups of Anagrams | |
| Type-ahead Search | |
| Random Weighted Driver | |
| Sort Strings | |
| Binary Tree Conversion | |
| Production Model Monitoring | |
| Dijkstra implementation | |
| Christmas Dinner Ingredient Optimization | |
| Messenger Service Design | |
| RAG Strict Source Control | |
| Implementing the Fibonacci Sequence in Three Different Methods | |
| Type I and II Errors | |
| Max Width |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
An HR recruiter calls to review your background, interest in the role, and basic fit. This stage is usually straightforward and centered on your resume and overall experience.
Candidates complete an online skills test that feels like a real screening rather than a casual conversation. Questions can cover software development fundamentals such as SDLC, code quality, testing frameworks, and other topics tied to the job description.
Some candidates first complete a pre-recorded interview before moving to live rounds. This stage appears to be a structured screening where you answer questions about your background and experience on camera.
The live interview includes a mix of behavioral and technical questions. Interviewers often dig deeply into your resume, past projects, and listed skills, along with topics like OOP concepts, SDLC, code quality, and simple coding problems such as reversing a linked list.
