Process
I applied to the engineering apprentice cohort, which focused on recruiting for inclusion and diversity.
I applied hours before the deadline and was notified three days afterward to submit a coding challenge.
They gave me a week to prepare for the challenge, but the actual challenge was a four-hour window.
Questions
They gave me a 4-hour timeframe and had two questions to answer. The questions were standard LeetCode algorithms.
First question: "Given a list of words and a limit character length for a line, create a function that takes in the line length and word list and returns a collection of strings that fit the character lengths in a line."
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Pinterest Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
0%
Pass Rate
Pinterest's interview process for their Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive50%
Neutral50%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Pinterest's Engineer interview process in United States.
Pinterest Work Experiences
2.0
Toxic like every other tech company
Engineer • Current Employee
June 15, 2023
Pros: There are mostly kind people (outside of upper management) just trying to make a living.
The benefits and salary are on par with most tech companies.
Cons: Constant chaos and zero respect for anyone's time or mental health.
Meetings, meetings, meetings, and then more meetings about meetings.
Everyone is constantly talking about "burnout," and nothing actually changes.
You are expected to work constantly and to be available 24/7 (even if they won't say that for legal reasons). You are punished when you have boundaries around your work and life and when you try to take any PTO.
Toxic leadership remains in place despite their terrible reputations and negative impact on hard workers.
3.0
Pay is okay, but the mid-management team is lame
Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
February 9, 2022
Pros: Pay is okay.
WLB is kind of better than average companies.
Cons: I have no idea how Pinterest successfully hired so many junior and incompetent managers in mid-management. They are too junior to make good judgment on the product roadmap and technical direction. I’ve worked with three different managers, and all of them are arrogant.
5.0
Good place for mid-career engineers
Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
July 12, 2018
Pros: Great overall culture. It's small enough to build strong coworker communities and rethink fundamental systems, but big enough to have the volume and resources for ambitious systems to matter. Compensation is very good if you're a strong negotiator and have experience that Pinterest needs. Find good referrals.
Cons: Pinterest is unlike Facebook or Google in that it's still a smaller, pre-IPO company where the organizational plate tectonics haven't finished cooling.
I don't recommend it for more junior engineers because they can get lost in the cracks of these shifts until they wise up.
Junior engineers and new grads without a lot of internship experience should go to a FAANG first.
- 2.0Toxic like every other tech companyEngineer • Current EmployeeJune 15, 2023Pros: There are mostly kind people (outside of upper management) just trying to make a living. The benefits and salary are on par with most tech companies.Cons: Constant chaos and zero respect for anyone's time or mental health. Meetings, meetings, meetings, and then more meetings about meetings. Everyone is constantly talking about "burnout," and nothing actually changes. You are expected to work constantly and to be available 24/7 (even if they won't say that for legal reasons). You are punished when you have boundaries around your work and life and when you try to take any PTO. Toxic leadership remains in place despite their terrible reputations and negative impact on hard workers.
- 3.0Pay is okay, but the mid-management team is lameEngineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesFebruary 9, 2022Pros: Pay is okay. WLB is kind of better than average companies.Cons: I have no idea how Pinterest successfully hired so many junior and incompetent managers in mid-management. They are too junior to make good judgment on the product roadmap and technical direction. I’ve worked with three different managers, and all of them are arrogant.
- 5.0Good place for mid-career engineersEngineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJuly 12, 2018Pros: Great overall culture. It's small enough to build strong coworker communities and rethink fundamental systems, but big enough to have the volume and resources for ambitious systems to matter. Compensation is very good if you're a strong negotiator and have experience that Pinterest needs. Find good referrals.Cons: Pinterest is unlike Facebook or Google in that it's still a smaller, pre-IPO company where the organizational plate tectonics haven't finished cooling. I don't recommend it for more junior engineers because they can get lost in the cracks of these shifts until they wise up. Junior engineers and new grads without a lot of internship experience should go to a FAANG first.
Pinterest Interview Questions
Explore Interview QuestionsTaro 75Google Interview QuestionsMeta Interview QuestionsAmazon Interview QuestionsApple Interview QuestionsNetflix Interview Questions
Explore Interview ExperiencesOpenAI Interview ExperiencesAnthropic Interview ExperiencesPerplexity Interview ExperiencesWindsurf Interview ExperiencesMistral AI Interview Experiences
