Software Engineer (Internship) Interview Experience - Washington, District of Columbia
January 22, 2020
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
Three back-to-back interviews on-site.
Each interview was different.
Only one was purely technical, which you could study for. The rest were on-the-spot performance.
Really friendly interviewers, and I felt very welcomed.
Overall, a good experience.
Questions
Taught me a new subject on the spot, then had to answer questions regarding it.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 5 interview experiences for the Palantir Software Engineer (Internship) role in Washington, District of Columbia.
Success Rate
0%
Pass Rate
Palantir's interview process for their Software Engineer (Internship) roles in Washington, District of Columbia is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive60%
Neutral20%
Negative20%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Palantir's Software Engineer (Internship) interview process in Washington, District of Columbia.
Palantir Work Experiences
5.0
Smart folks, fast-paced, and self-driven
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
July 9, 2020
Pros: Your coworkers are going to be incredibly competent. I've been here for a year and a half and I haven't yet encountered a coworker who wasn't good at their job.
The culture is very fast-paced; it sort of feels like early Facebook's "move fast and break things." If you're self-motivated and enjoy ambiguous, high-impact problems, Palantir is for you.
In all things, Palantir minimizes process. You get to define how things get done, and it's up to you to make it happen. If you enjoy a lot of structure and process, Palantir will probably be really painful.
Cons: The culture is really fast-paced and intense. If you're bad at taking time off and unplugging from work (and most Palantirians are), Palantir won't stop you from overworking. For this reason, there's a good amount of burnout.
The culture also is built around being a self-starter. It's not okay to be blocked by other people, and you'll be expected to think outside of the box to solve problems and get yourself unblocked. If you don't like ambiguous or difficult problems, you're going to have a bad time. If you're bad at unplugging from work, you're going to have a bad time.
5.0
I loved working here pre-IPO; I have no idea how it is now
Site Reliability Engineer • Former Employee
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
October 21, 2025
Pros: Flexible; lots of smart, interesting people; free stuff galore; lots of challenging work; no overnight stuff.
Cons: People didn't really listen to me, but that happens everywhere I go.
2.0
Issues Beneath the Shiny Veneer
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
September 15, 2022
Pros: It has good leadership at the top under Dr. Karp. A lot of their work will provide a sense of purpose and genuinely has a positive impact on the world.
The office perks are also excellent, especially the food.
Cons: Palantir is arrogant and even borderline cultish. Below Dr. Karp, it suffers from immature leaders and managers. Being a people lead only implies that you have power over people, not that you have people skills. Few checks exist on a manager's power to ruin your career, especially if they subjectively determine that you are not a good "culture fit." A lack of "culture fit" means that it's OK to mistreat you because you're different, not that you don't fit into Palantir's culture.
- 5.0Smart folks, fast-paced, and self-drivenSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesJuly 9, 2020Pros: Your coworkers are going to be incredibly competent. I've been here for a year and a half and I haven't yet encountered a coworker who wasn't good at their job. The culture is very fast-paced; it sort of feels like early Facebook's "move fast and break things." If you're self-motivated and enjoy ambiguous, high-impact problems, Palantir is for you. In all things, Palantir minimizes process. You get to define how things get done, and it's up to you to make it happen. If you enjoy a lot of structure and process, Palantir will probably be really painful.Cons: The culture is really fast-paced and intense. If you're bad at taking time off and unplugging from work (and most Palantirians are), Palantir won't stop you from overworking. For this reason, there's a good amount of burnout. The culture also is built around being a self-starter. It's not okay to be blocked by other people, and you'll be expected to think outside of the box to solve problems and get yourself unblocked. If you don't like ambiguous or difficult problems, you're going to have a bad time. If you're bad at unplugging from work, you're going to have a bad time.
- 5.0I loved working here pre-IPO; I have no idea how it is nowSite Reliability Engineer • Former EmployeeWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesOctober 21, 2025Pros: Flexible; lots of smart, interesting people; free stuff galore; lots of challenging work; no overnight stuff.Cons: People didn't really listen to me, but that happens everywhere I go.
- 2.0Issues Beneath the Shiny VeneerSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesSeptember 15, 2022Pros: It has good leadership at the top under Dr. Karp. A lot of their work will provide a sense of purpose and genuinely has a positive impact on the world. The office perks are also excellent, especially the food.Cons: Palantir is arrogant and even borderline cultish. Below Dr. Karp, it suffers from immature leaders and managers. Being a people lead only implies that you have power over people, not that you have people skills. Few checks exist on a manager's power to ruin your career, especially if they subjectively determine that you are not a good "culture fit." A lack of "culture fit" means that it's OK to mistreat you because you're different, not that you don't fit into Palantir's culture.
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