Software Engineer Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California
April 1, 2012
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
HR contacted me via email, followed by a phone interview with an engineer the next day.
Questions
How to compute the top k numbers in an array?
How to find the median of an array of numbers?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 47 interview experiences for the Palantir Software Engineer role in Palo Alto, California.
Success Rate
11%
Pass Rate
Palantir's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Palo Alto, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive57%
Neutral23%
Negative19%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Palantir's Software Engineer interview process in Palo Alto, California.
Palantir Work Experiences
3.0
Smart Engineers, Weak Management
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
August 24, 2014
Pros: The engineers I got to work with were smart, despite most of them being hired straight out of university. It was a great opportunity to learn from quality (though arguably inexperienced) engineers.
Cons: My mentor and team lead were quite ineffective at communication and giving feedback. My experience would have been much better if I had gotten more feedback more often.
1.0
Hard to put into words
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
May 29, 2025
Pros: It is a company that pays money and offers benefits. It has employees who are all in the same boat.
Cons: Leadership under AK are shells of people. I would say so much more, but simply put: Don't.
5.0
A contagious drive to make the world better
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
August 4, 2016
Pros: - Brilliant people, domain experts, quick thinkers, constructively critical.
- Opportunity to solve problems and impact a variety of institutions and domains that doesn't exist anywhere else.
- Teammates honestly depend on the hard work of each other, and it keeps us moving forward.
- Great culture of working hard on important, high-stakes work and supporting the people you're working with. Not super political.
Cons: If you don't know how to prioritize your own work/life balance, you will have to learn.
The sensitive nature of certain work requires secrecy, which can often be perceived as malintent by default.
- 3.0Smart Engineers, Weak ManagementSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesAugust 24, 2014Pros: The engineers I got to work with were smart, despite most of them being hired straight out of university. It was a great opportunity to learn from quality (though arguably inexperienced) engineers.Cons: My mentor and team lead were quite ineffective at communication and giving feedback. My experience would have been much better if I had gotten more feedback more often.
- 1.0Hard to put into wordsSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesMay 29, 2025Pros: It is a company that pays money and offers benefits. It has employees who are all in the same boat.Cons: Leadership under AK are shells of people. I would say so much more, but simply put: Don't.
- 5.0A contagious drive to make the world betterSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesAugust 4, 2016Pros: - Brilliant people, domain experts, quick thinkers, constructively critical. - Opportunity to solve problems and impact a variety of institutions and domains that doesn't exist anywhere else. - Teammates honestly depend on the hard work of each other, and it keeps us moving forward. - Great culture of working hard on important, high-stakes work and supporting the people you're working with. Not super political.Cons: If you don't know how to prioritize your own work/life balance, you will have to learn. The sensitive nature of certain work requires secrecy, which can often be perceived as malintent by default.
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