Software Engineer Interview Experience - New York, New York
January 1, 2025
Negative ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I interviewed for a Software Engineer role at Clay over a two-month process that included:
- Initial recruiter call (Jan 8)
- Two technical interviews
- Behavioral interview
- Call with the CEO
- System design interview
- Additional hiring manager call
- NYC office visit & coffee chat
After completing all interviews, the company put me on hold for two weeks to determine hiring numbers. They then requested two references, which later became four due to unclear expectations. Despite this, I was rejected unexpectedly before they even completed my final reference check.
Pros:
- Great product
- Everyone I spoke with was smart and easy to talk to
Cons:
- Extremely long, unclear process with additional steps added after completing the interviews
- Lack of transparency about hiring decisions and reference checks
- Rejected last-minute after investing significant time, which felt disrespectful to both me and my references
Questions
Why do you want to work at Clay?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Clay Software Engineer role in New York, New York.
Success Rate
50%
Pass Rate
Clay's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in New York, New York is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive50%
Neutral0%
Negative50%
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Clay's Software Engineer interview process in New York, New York.
Clay Work Experiences
5.0
Exciting Work, Demanding Hours
Software Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
September 11, 2025
Pros: - Fantastic culture
- Incredibly smart engineers
- Work is exciting and engaging
Cons: - Not your typical 9-to-5
5.0
Best place to work
Software Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
September 11, 2025
Pros: - Excellent culture and people.
- Leaders who care about their employees.
- Tough, interesting engineering problems.
- Emphasis on taking ownership.
- Heavy in-person culture :)
Cons: If you are a remote worker, I think it can be a bit tough, but other than that, no cons!
5.0
Top-tier culture and talent
Software Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
August 24, 2025
Pros: Incredible business metrics, paired with a highly transparent leadership team, lead to a team-oriented culture where everyone works together to build a world-class product instead of being driven by the politics and title-chasing you'd see at bigger corps.
The product roadmap has a ton of exciting opportunities for innovation and room to design foundational platform technology, which is very exciting if you are passionate about building.
Cons: Not a lot of process as we're in a high growth stage. You will need to be comfortable with ambiguity and a self-starter.
- 5.0Exciting Work, Demanding HoursSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesSeptember 11, 2025Pros: - Fantastic culture - Incredibly smart engineers - Work is exciting and engagingCons: - Not your typical 9-to-5
- 5.0Best place to workSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesSeptember 11, 2025Pros: - Excellent culture and people. - Leaders who care about their employees. - Tough, interesting engineering problems. - Emphasis on taking ownership. - Heavy in-person culture :)Cons: If you are a remote worker, I think it can be a bit tough, but other than that, no cons!
- 5.0Top-tier culture and talentSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesAugust 24, 2025Pros: Incredible business metrics, paired with a highly transparent leadership team, lead to a team-oriented culture where everyone works together to build a world-class product instead of being driven by the politics and title-chasing you'd see at bigger corps. The product roadmap has a ton of exciting opportunities for innovation and room to design foundational platform technology, which is very exciting if you are passionate about building.Cons: Not a lot of process as we're in a high growth stage. You will need to be comfortable with ambiguity and a self-starter.
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