Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience - New York, New York
Process
The interview was good, except for the system design round. The interviewers didn't seem to understand the difference between designing a system and defining business requirements. They expected me to design their business requirements rather than the system itself.
Questions
Build a system to accept or reject payment. Then, he asked, "What if the entire DB goes down, including replicas?"
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Instacart Senior Software Engineer role in New York, New York.
Success Rate
Instacart's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles in New York, New York is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Instacart's Senior Software Engineer interview process in New York, New York.
Instacart Work Experiences
- 5.0Absolutely Great PlaceSenior Software Engineer • Former EmployeeNew York, New York, United StatesFebruary 24, 2025Pros: This place was really great.Cons: No cons to speak of.
- 3.0Busy, fast-paced workSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeVancouver, British Columbia, CanadaAugust 15, 2025Pros: - Good adaptation of AI in processes. - Good mobility between teams. - Opportunity to work on large-scale Rails monoliths. - Good company summits.Cons: - Technical debt and hard deadlines mean you'll be working outside of work hours more often than not. - Internal politics can be toxic, leading to transactional work relationships. - Code is sometimes hard to merge because it requires approval by specific owners who are not always available.
- 4.0Great place, getting betterSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeJanuary 12, 2021Pros: The work is interesting and fulfilling, and we have a great IPO outlook.Cons: - In the past, management has been opaque, but that has improved greatly over the last year. - There's also pretty clear favoritism with some promotions. - No 401k match
Instacart Interview Questions
