SWE Intern Interview Experience - San Mateo, California
April 23, 2025
Neutral ExperienceGot Offer
Process
I had a phone interview with a recruiter. Next, I saw two hiring managers in the same interview a week later. And then I got a call back from the recruiter a couple of weeks later after that.
Questions
Draw up a design document for an app that you would give to a designer.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Rakuten SWE Intern role in San Mateo, California.
Success Rate
100%
Pass Rate
Rakuten's interview process for their SWE Intern roles in San Mateo, California is incredibly easy as the vast majority of engineers get an offer after going through it.
Experience Rating
Positive50%
Neutral50%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Rakuten's SWE Intern interview process in San Mateo, California.
Rakuten Work Experiences
5.0
Good place, great work
Sr Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Mateo, California, United States
November 13, 2025
Pros: Rakuten is a great place to work with a strong engineering culture, supportive leadership, and plenty of opportunities to grow.
Benefits and perks are solid in many regions: free meals, snacks, flexible hours, and the chance to work on emerging tech.
Cons: The company sometimes jumps into new initiatives, third-party tools, or services too quickly without fully vetting long-term impact or integration plans. This can lead to half-baked solutions and technical debt down the line.
Some teams report management with limited hands-on technical experience, which can impact project direction and morale.
3.0
Good Balance, Stagnant Growth
Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Mateo, California, United States
July 10, 2025
Pros: Good work-life balance, decent culture, kind employees.
Cons: The company isn't growing. The tech stack is not super current. I feel like I've already built the same features multiple times now instead of truly innovating.
4.0
Good work environment
Big Data Engineer • Former Employee
San Mateo, California, United States
May 30, 2025
Pros: Learned a lot.
Good work/life balance.
Good team.
Good severance.
Cons: Unclear business direction.
Too conservative and traditional, unyielding.
- 5.0Good place, great workSr Staff Software Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Mateo, California, United StatesNovember 13, 2025Pros: Rakuten is a great place to work with a strong engineering culture, supportive leadership, and plenty of opportunities to grow. Benefits and perks are solid in many regions: free meals, snacks, flexible hours, and the chance to work on emerging tech.Cons: The company sometimes jumps into new initiatives, third-party tools, or services too quickly without fully vetting long-term impact or integration plans. This can lead to half-baked solutions and technical debt down the line. Some teams report management with limited hands-on technical experience, which can impact project direction and morale.
- 3.0Good Balance, Stagnant GrowthSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Mateo, California, United StatesJuly 10, 2025Pros: Good work-life balance, decent culture, kind employees.Cons: The company isn't growing. The tech stack is not super current. I feel like I've already built the same features multiple times now instead of truly innovating.
- 4.0Good work environmentBig Data Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Mateo, California, United StatesMay 30, 2025Pros: Learned a lot. Good work/life balance. Good team. Good severance.Cons: Unclear business direction. Too conservative and traditional, unyielding.
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