Software Engineer (Internship) Interview Experience - San Francisco, California
Process
I got a hold of a recruiter's email and contacted her.
Step 1: Lytmus test (aka online coding challenge). Pretty easy questions, mostly string parsing. I had to code on a VM, which was annoying.
Step 2: Karat phone interview. It went in-depth over my projects, then LC easy/medium questions. Check out Intuit-tagged questions on LC.
Step 3: 60-minute phone call with an engineer. Worth noting I interviewed for "Platform". It was a medium question.
Had a deadline and got an offer 2 days later.
Overall, it was a good interview process. Very fast, and my recruiter was great.
Questions
Question related to prefix tries.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 5 interview experiences for the Pinterest Software Engineer (Internship) role in San Francisco, California.
Success Rate
Pinterest's interview process for their Software Engineer (Internship) roles in San Francisco, California is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Pinterest's Software Engineer (Internship) interview process in San Francisco, California.
Pinterest Work Experiences
- 4.0Inspiring Internship Experience with Real ImpactSoftware Engineer - Intern • Former EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesOctober 22, 2025Pros: Incredible company culture focused on creativity and kindness. My team trusted me with impactful projects that reached millions of users, and mentorship was outstanding. I got to contribute to both UI and backend work while learning best practices from experienced engineers. The environment truly encourages learning, collaboration, and innovation.Cons: Onboarding for some internal tools can be confusing at first. Because Pinterest uses a large monorepo and custom frameworks, it takes time to ramp up. Additionally, since it’s a hybrid environment, you might miss some in-person bonding if you’re not based near HQ.
- 3.0A good place to workSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesOctober 12, 2025Pros: Good work-life balance and culture.Cons: Dev can be a nightmare sometimes.
- 4.0Good Balance, Unclear FutureSenior Machine Learning Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesOctober 6, 2025Pros: - Work-life balance - Teammates are nice - WFH policy - Compensation is OKCons: Unclear long-term career development.
Pinterest Interview Questions
