I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Airbnb (San Francisco, CA) in Jan 2014
Interview
After the initial housekeeping with recruiters you do 2 phone screens that last ~45 minutes. Coding questions are the average DS and algo, but wrapped in some use scenario context, which is helpful.
Mine included: lower/uppercase permutations, simple json parsing, implementing a simple socket based client (could lookup docs online).
You need to produce *running code (this is true for both phone and onsite), but that shouldn't make you nervous.
Arch/Design questions is what got me. You're expected to know database/relation design, indexing, different layers of caching and lookup optimization as if you do this all day every day.
You can answer these Q's in either Sql or NoSql context.
Then there are 2 quirky culture/fit interviews. Know why you want to work there, be ready to share some experiences from traveling (and hopefully using AirBnB), and have something new to teach your interviewer in a few minutes. That part is actually fun.
All in all a nice experience and anyone you interact with are pleasant and helpful.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
What SQL columns you should index and how would you change the indexing in different lookup scenarios?
Pretty standard engineering interview. Recruiter call, technical interview, system design. They also had a code review interview that I had never seen before. I thought it was a little trickier than average, but not horrible. Sucks that if you don't move to the next round you can't reapply for a year.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about the tech stack you've worked with before
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Airbnb (San Francisco, CA) in Apr 2026
Interview
Submitted my application and the next day i received the coding assessment I did not speak to anyone it was all done online, Im still waiting to hear back on my results
I applied online. I interviewed at Airbnb in Mar 2026
Interview
Had hiring manager call but got reject after the interview. The interview was around my past experience in the current company. Talked about how I influence roadmap, handle escalations and architect team’s initiatives,
3
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