Duolingo

Software Engineer (Internship) Interview Experience

October 23, 2021

Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

The interview was on Karat. I don't really think the interviewer paid enough attention as I explained the code. Since he asked me to finish explaining my thoughts before actually coding, I didn't have enough time in the end.

Questions

Some time complexity problems at first, and one coding question.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 23 interview experiences for the Duolingo Software Engineer (Internship) role in United States.

Success Rate

13%

Pass Rate

Duolingo's interview process for their Software Engineer (Internship) roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive43%

Neutral30%

Negative26%

Candidates reported having good feelings for Duolingo's Software Engineer (Internship) interview process in United States.

Duolingo Work Experiences

Awesome place to work for

Software Engineer II • Current Employee

Pros: There is a 10/10 work culture, and the coworkers are smart, kind, and fun!

Cons: None I can think of. The pay isn’t as competitive as, say, Meta or Google, but the culture and WLB makes it worth it in my opinion.

Awesome place to work for

Software Engineer II • Current Employee

Pros: There is a 10/10 work culture, and the coworkers are smart, kind, and fun!

Cons: None I can think of. The pay isn’t as competitive as, say, Meta or Google, but the culture and WLB makes it worth it in my opinion.

Inclusive Culture, Tough Parking

Software Engineer(Internship) • Current Employee

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

February 11, 2022

Pros: A great and inclusive company. Good benefits.

Cons: Parking nearby can be difficult.

Inclusive Culture, Tough Parking

Software Engineer(Internship) • Current Employee

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

February 11, 2022

Pros: A great and inclusive company. Good benefits.

Cons: Parking nearby can be difficult.

Amazing culture. Hopefully that stays

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: - Great culture and emphasis on collaboration and having fun. - Made several lifelong friends here. - Post-IPO stock gains were great while they lasted. - The CEO is smart and still in 'founder mode'. - It's fun to work on problems in education for a brand that people love.

Cons: - Compensation is 80% of what you would get at Google or Facebook. The company is relying on its feel-good mission and stock growth to make up for the remaining 20%. The recent stock price crash has made this worse. HR had better act soon before the best talent leaves. - We're hiring more people, but the scope of work for each person seems to be getting smaller over time. - Pittsburgh is a great city to live in, but it limits your career opportunities if you want to switch companies.

Amazing culture. Hopefully that stays

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: - Great culture and emphasis on collaboration and having fun. - Made several lifelong friends here. - Post-IPO stock gains were great while they lasted. - The CEO is smart and still in 'founder mode'. - It's fun to work on problems in education for a brand that people love.

Cons: - Compensation is 80% of what you would get at Google or Facebook. The company is relying on its feel-good mission and stock growth to make up for the remaining 20%. The recent stock price crash has made this worse. HR had better act soon before the best talent leaves. - We're hiring more people, but the scope of work for each person seems to be getting smaller over time. - Pittsburgh is a great city to live in, but it limits your career opportunities if you want to switch companies.

Awesome place to work for

Software Engineer II • Current Employee

Pros: There is a 10/10 work culture, and the coworkers are smart, kind, and fun!

Cons: None I can think of. The pay isn’t as competitive as, say, Meta or Google, but the culture and WLB makes it worth it in my opinion.

5.0
Awesome place to work for
Software Engineer II • Current Employee
New York, NY
May 13, 2026
Pros: There is a 10/10 work culture, and the coworkers are smart, kind, and fun!
Cons: None I can think of. The pay isn’t as competitive as, say, Meta or Google, but the culture and WLB makes it worth it in my opinion.

Inclusive Culture, Tough Parking

Software Engineer(Internship) • Current Employee

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

February 11, 2022

Pros: A great and inclusive company. Good benefits.

Cons: Parking nearby can be difficult.

5.0
Inclusive Culture, Tough Parking
Software Engineer(Internship) • Current Employee
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
February 11, 2022
Pros: A great and inclusive company. Good benefits.
Cons: Parking nearby can be difficult.

Amazing culture. Hopefully that stays

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: - Great culture and emphasis on collaboration and having fun. - Made several lifelong friends here. - Post-IPO stock gains were great while they lasted. - The CEO is smart and still in 'founder mode'. - It's fun to work on problems in education for a brand that people love.

Cons: - Compensation is 80% of what you would get at Google or Facebook. The company is relying on its feel-good mission and stock growth to make up for the remaining 20%. The recent stock price crash has made this worse. HR had better act soon before the best talent leaves. - We're hiring more people, but the scope of work for each person seems to be getting smaller over time. - Pittsburgh is a great city to live in, but it limits your career opportunities if you want to switch companies.

5.0
Amazing culture. Hopefully that stays
Software Engineer • Current Employee
March 20, 2026
Pros: - Great culture and emphasis on collaboration and having fun. - Made several lifelong friends here. - Post-IPO stock gains were great while they lasted. - The CEO is smart and still in 'founder mode'. - It's fun to work on problems in education for a brand that people love.
Cons: - Compensation is 80% of what you would get at Google or Facebook. The company is relying on its feel-good mission and stock growth to make up for the remaining 20%. The recent stock price crash has made this worse. HR had better act soon before the best talent leaves. - We're hiring more people, but the scope of work for each person seems to be getting smaller over time. - Pittsburgh is a great city to live in, but it limits your career opportunities if you want to switch companies.

Duolingo Interview Questions

Encrypt and Decrypt Strings

Implement functions to encrypt a string using a given key and decrypt the encrypted string back to its original form. The encryption method involves substitutions based on the key.

Minimum Number of People to Teach

Imagine a company where employees speak different languages. You need to teach a minimum number of people new languages so that everyone can communicate with at least one colleague.

ArraysGreedy Algorithms

K Radius Subarray Averages

You're given an array and a radius 'k'. Calculate the average of each subarray of length 2k+1 centered at each index, returning an array of these averages. If a subarray is too short (less than 2k+1 elements), mark its average as -1.

ArraysSliding Windows

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