Perplexity

Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience - United States

August 1, 2025

Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I spoke with the recruiter, who set expectations about extremely long hours at the outset. The second stage was a coding round. This interviewer gave me a coding assignment to complete, which wasn't that difficult. However, they wouldn't let me think through the problem at all; they kept interrupting me, like an auto-complete function.

I did complete the assignment, and they seemed happy with it. I was rejected, obviously with no feedback. I was more annoyed by the interviewer, though. If you're going to do the thinking on my behalf, why conduct the interview at all?

It wasn't as if I was stuck on the problem for five minutes; they'd offer a new idea every ten seconds. To be honest, I'm thankful I didn't get through.

Questions

They asked me to build a small project to simulate a particular system.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Perplexity Senior Software Engineer role in United States.

Success Rate

0%

Pass Rate

Perplexity's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive0%

Neutral0%

Negative100%

Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Perplexity's Senior Software Engineer interview process in United States.

Perplexity Work Experiences

Super fast pace

Site Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

September 12, 2025

Pros: Lots of nice and smart people to work with. A good learning opportunity. A good growth opportunity. Great compensation.

Cons: Huge workload. Very fast pace. Long hours are normal. Exhausting!

Super fast pace

Site Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

September 12, 2025

Pros: Lots of nice and smart people to work with. A good learning opportunity. A good growth opportunity. Great compensation.

Cons: Huge workload. Very fast pace. Long hours are normal. Exhausting!

Steep learning curve; lots of respect in industry

Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee

New York, New York, United States

August 21, 2025

Pros: Every full-stack engineer I've met is super talented technically, with great work experience and schools. Honestly, it's a bit intimidating when you look at everyone's resumes. But they're all very nice, patient, and willing to go above and beyond to ramp you up. Everyone is super invested in each other, which is rare to see, especially coming from a 2000+ company where engineers couldn't care less about the product or team. If you're good and work hard, you get to work on some bleeding-edge stuff and ship entire features or products yourself. I don't think you get this much ownership in much larger labs. I'm learning a ton and have friends who find Perplexity so impressive, from the products and the position they are in.

Cons: Long hours if you're on a tight deadline to ship. Scope creep can be real as we continue to add new capabilities to various products. The models getting better also means we're constantly revising the roadmap to ensure we're shipping the latest AI capabilities. It's what makes Comet so dope, but does take up time and weights into weekends sometimes as well. Founders are super intense, but given how competitive the AI industry is, it makes sense. NYC hours and SF HQ also means some late nights as you stay up with the team. The team does fly you out often if needed, so it's not a bad thing if you like travel.

Steep learning curve; lots of respect in industry

Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee

New York, New York, United States

August 21, 2025

Pros: Every full-stack engineer I've met is super talented technically, with great work experience and schools. Honestly, it's a bit intimidating when you look at everyone's resumes. But they're all very nice, patient, and willing to go above and beyond to ramp you up. Everyone is super invested in each other, which is rare to see, especially coming from a 2000+ company where engineers couldn't care less about the product or team. If you're good and work hard, you get to work on some bleeding-edge stuff and ship entire features or products yourself. I don't think you get this much ownership in much larger labs. I'm learning a ton and have friends who find Perplexity so impressive, from the products and the position they are in.

Cons: Long hours if you're on a tight deadline to ship. Scope creep can be real as we continue to add new capabilities to various products. The models getting better also means we're constantly revising the roadmap to ensure we're shipping the latest AI capabilities. It's what makes Comet so dope, but does take up time and weights into weekends sometimes as well. Founders are super intense, but given how competitive the AI industry is, it makes sense. NYC hours and SF HQ also means some late nights as you stay up with the team. The team does fly you out often if needed, so it's not a bad thing if you like travel.

Lots of agency, high intensity

Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

Pros: From day 1, you're working on something quite important and will be shipped to millions of users. No 20-person committees, endless QA processes, or product counsel in the way. You get to own things end-to-end, and the team pushes you to move faster.

Cons: If you need tons of support and time, you won't be very happy here. Everyone works super hard, and working through weekends isn't uncommon, especially if you're close to a deadline. You're expected to QA stuff yourself, and if things are buggy, all eyes are on you to fix them. As a former founder, this is all familiar, but if I joined a few years earlier, I would've found it really tough. It's also high intensity, as founders are always on.

Lots of agency, high intensity

Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

Pros: From day 1, you're working on something quite important and will be shipped to millions of users. No 20-person committees, endless QA processes, or product counsel in the way. You get to own things end-to-end, and the team pushes you to move faster.

Cons: If you need tons of support and time, you won't be very happy here. Everyone works super hard, and working through weekends isn't uncommon, especially if you're close to a deadline. You're expected to QA stuff yourself, and if things are buggy, all eyes are on you to fix them. As a former founder, this is all familiar, but if I joined a few years earlier, I would've found it really tough. It's also high intensity, as founders are always on.

Super fast pace

Site Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

September 12, 2025

Pros: Lots of nice and smart people to work with. A good learning opportunity. A good growth opportunity. Great compensation.

Cons: Huge workload. Very fast pace. Long hours are normal. Exhausting!

4.0
Super fast pace
Site Reliability Engineer • Former Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
September 12, 2025
Pros: Lots of nice and smart people to work with. A good learning opportunity. A good growth opportunity. Great compensation.
Cons: Huge workload. Very fast pace. Long hours are normal. Exhausting!

Steep learning curve; lots of respect in industry

Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee

New York, New York, United States

August 21, 2025

Pros: Every full-stack engineer I've met is super talented technically, with great work experience and schools. Honestly, it's a bit intimidating when you look at everyone's resumes. But they're all very nice, patient, and willing to go above and beyond to ramp you up. Everyone is super invested in each other, which is rare to see, especially coming from a 2000+ company where engineers couldn't care less about the product or team. If you're good and work hard, you get to work on some bleeding-edge stuff and ship entire features or products yourself. I don't think you get this much ownership in much larger labs. I'm learning a ton and have friends who find Perplexity so impressive, from the products and the position they are in.

Cons: Long hours if you're on a tight deadline to ship. Scope creep can be real as we continue to add new capabilities to various products. The models getting better also means we're constantly revising the roadmap to ensure we're shipping the latest AI capabilities. It's what makes Comet so dope, but does take up time and weights into weekends sometimes as well. Founders are super intense, but given how competitive the AI industry is, it makes sense. NYC hours and SF HQ also means some late nights as you stay up with the team. The team does fly you out often if needed, so it's not a bad thing if you like travel.

5.0
Steep learning curve; lots of respect in industry
Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
August 21, 2025
Pros: Every full-stack engineer I've met is super talented technically, with great work experience and schools. Honestly, it's a bit intimidating when you look at everyone's resumes. But they're all very nice, patient, and willing to go above and beyond to ramp you up. Everyone is super invested in each other, which is rare to see, especially coming from a 2000+ company where engineers couldn't care less about the product or team. If you're good and work hard, you get to work on some bleeding-edge stuff and ship entire features or products yourself. I don't think you get this much ownership in much larger labs. I'm learning a ton and have friends who find Perplexity so impressive, from the products and the position they are in.
Cons: Long hours if you're on a tight deadline to ship. Scope creep can be real as we continue to add new capabilities to various products. The models getting better also means we're constantly revising the roadmap to ensure we're shipping the latest AI capabilities. It's what makes Comet so dope, but does take up time and weights into weekends sometimes as well. Founders are super intense, but given how competitive the AI industry is, it makes sense. NYC hours and SF HQ also means some late nights as you stay up with the team. The team does fly you out often if needed, so it's not a bad thing if you like travel.

Lots of agency, high intensity

Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

Pros: From day 1, you're working on something quite important and will be shipped to millions of users. No 20-person committees, endless QA processes, or product counsel in the way. You get to own things end-to-end, and the team pushes you to move faster.

Cons: If you need tons of support and time, you won't be very happy here. Everyone works super hard, and working through weekends isn't uncommon, especially if you're close to a deadline. You're expected to QA stuff yourself, and if things are buggy, all eyes are on you to fix them. As a former founder, this is all familiar, but if I joined a few years earlier, I would've found it really tough. It's also high intensity, as founders are always on.

5.0
Lots of agency, high intensity
Full Stack Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
July 28, 2025
Pros: From day 1, you're working on something quite important and will be shipped to millions of users. No 20-person committees, endless QA processes, or product counsel in the way. You get to own things end-to-end, and the team pushes you to move faster.
Cons: If you need tons of support and time, you won't be very happy here. Everyone works super hard, and working through weekends isn't uncommon, especially if you're close to a deadline. You're expected to QA stuff yourself, and if things are buggy, all eyes are on you to fix them. As a former founder, this is all familiar, but if I joined a few years earlier, I would've found it really tough. It's also high intensity, as founders are always on.

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