I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at PayPal (Chicago, IL) in Apr 2021
Interview
The interview process was really long process and a large demand on candidates' time. It also felt like the evaluation was very subjective . It was mainly describing projects you've worked on and pair programming, none of which have an objective metrics. So it seems like the success really depends on how well you click with your interviewers.
The take home test was not difficult but takes a large amount of time (about 8 hours or most of my weekend for me). Coding is done via a take home assignment and pair programming at the onsite.
The team and interview process seems to have identity crisis between Braintree and Paypal. My interviews were with partly Braintree and part Paypal team. I mentioned somethings I like about Braintree culture such as pair programming and TDD, and one of interviewers said they don't do it on their team, but recruiter told me it is a big part of their culture and stressed the importance of it. One of the interviewers left a bad impression on me as they cut me short during my responses, and asked about my weaknesses and how others might negatively perceive me.
The interview process consisted of:
- 45 minute recruiter Phone screen.
- 1 hr Technical Experience Interview with two Engineers.
- 1 take home assignment. Took me about 8 hours of time but they give you a week to complete.
- 30 minute call with recruiter discussing onsite interview format.
- Full day onsite interviewing consisting of multiple rounds. 10am-5pm. 1 pair programming, 1 system design, 1 behavioral interview, 1 project experience interview, 1 EM interview.
The interview did not have intense Leetcode style coding questions, which is a plus if you don't like these.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Deep technical questions about project you worked on in the past.
Typical behavioral questions. Why do you want to work at Paypal.
Engineering Manager asked more difficult questions. weakness questions - What are areas you feel you need improvement. negative feedback you manager might give you.
Thank you for your feedback, we're sorry to hear about your experience. We constantly aim to create the best possible candidate experience, but admittedly things can always be improved. Your feedback is valuable and will help us understand how we can evolve our interview process.
Other Software Engineer interview reviews for PayPal
I had a recruiter call and they said they would send me a link to a Karat interview round in a week but I never received it. I mailed the recruiter multiple times but got no response or communication about it
PayPal response
1mo
Thank you for sharing your interview experience with us. Your feedback is valuable and will help us understand how we can evolve our interview process. We hope you can find another role on our website that fits your interest and join our team!
Recruiter call was basic scan of resume understanding tech stack what i work on and my interests. Prepare your resume and be ready to state why you want to work for the company.
PayPal response
2mo
Thank you for sharing your interview experience with us. Your feedback is valuable and will help us understand how we can evolve our interview process. We hope you can find another role on our website that fits your interest and join our team!
I interviewed 2 round, one front end, one hire manager, but didn’t move forward. The hr is helpful, the hire manager round asked about system design questions, which I feel may cause the rejection.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Normal front end interview questions, implement a fetching api small task
Thank you for sharing your interview experience with us. Your feedback is valuable and will help us understand how we can evolve our interview process. We hope you can find another role on our website that fits your interest and join our team!
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