Staff Software Engineer Interview Experience - United States
Process
I applied for this position and the director of engineering reached out to me. He said I didn't have enough experience for staff software engineer but would proceed with it as a junior staff software engineer. I exchanged a few emails with him and he asked about static vs dynamic typing, then we had a short call about how to handle a simple phone app. The main idea is that you needed to know that you should display some sort of waiting screen while the user waited for the API to refresh.
Next was a coding interview, had to basically deal with TCP requests and work with a stack/queue, wasn't too bad
Next was a system design interview which was pretty tough for a junior position. My recruiter contact told me it would be 30 mins but the interviewer thought it was 45, he sounded disappointed it only went 30 mins and that's probably part of why I didn't get it
Questions
How would you implement Instagram?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 5 interview experiences for the Illumio Staff Software Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
Illumio's interview process for their Staff Software Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Illumio's Staff Software Engineer interview process in United States.
Illumio Work Experiences
- 5.0Amazing place to work, very fun, friendly and exceptionally intelligent but down to Earth people.Escalation Engineer • Current EmployeeReading, United KingdomJanuary 7, 2020Pros: - Love regular reviews/feedback/appraisals with my manager, helps me to know what to focus on - Support and Services are integrated, and this creates a culture for providing a seamless customer experience - Love the atmosphere at HQ and other Satellite offices. Openness, no cliques, easy to approach anyone with a question and get an answer. - Love the technology - Opportunity to make a difference very early on within joining the company. I feel heard, like my opinion makes a difference - Recruitment/people team are exceptionally helpful, warm and honest, not like in other companies I've worked for. What you see advertised is what you get. - Outstanding Pay and benefits - Impetus to grow and develop in a fast growing industry, opportunities to build amazing skills in an exciting sector. - Would not hesitate to recommend friends and family to work here - Senior management are very approachable and friendly. Right from the CEO, to CTO, to head of Support and services, this permeates down through the company. Very relaxed and friendly vibe, not toxic at all.Cons: None. I have had a positive experience here and feel optimistic about a career here.
- 1.0Going downhill fastEngineer • Current EmployeeSunnyvale, CaliforniaMay 11, 2026Pros: A good way to learn about security is through practice.Cons: They are shedding highly paid staff as fast as they can.
- 5.0Excellent place to workProduct and Engineering • Current EmployeeDecember 23, 2022Pros: - Great culture, really values every employee. - Strong product. Market leader in its space and a huge untapped business opportunity. - Awesome people, with a solid core team.Cons: Growing company, things can get quite busy.
