Process
Phone screen to Technical Phone screen
This was one of my most frustrating phone interviews. For a company with so few engineers, communication seems to be a massive issue. This isn't regarding getting silence from a recruiter or anything; this is regarding the engineer that interviewed me.
He was by far one of the least communicative engineers I have ever had the displeasure to meet. I asked a few clarifying questions at the beginning of the interview and he confirmed things were as I thought; however, he backtracked and flipped back and forth twice during the interview. It became a situation where I was completely confused as to what exactly I was solving since my interviewer told me to scratch the initial thing he said three times every time I tried to confirm what I was solving for.
Basically, the hour went as follows:
Me: "To confirm, it's ______, correct?" Him: "Yes, that sounds right." Me: "Alright, in that case, do I have to be concerned about these cases ________" Him: "Yup" Me: "Alright so this is how I'm thinking of solving it ________. Does that sound alright to you?" Him: "Wait, scratch the first things I said. The question should be ________"
Then repeat 3 times...
tl;dr: Don't bother. For a small company, engineer communication issues will be a massive issue that will just make you unhappy with your job.
Questions
I have no idea. Something about parsing a string, I think.
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 40 interview experiences for the Scale AI Software Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
Scale AI's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Scale AI's Software Engineer interview process in United States.
Scale AI Work Experiences
- 5.0Amazing place to work and growSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, CAJuly 20, 2020Pros: I've had some crazy and cool experiences in my previous jobs, but nothing like I've had here. It is pretty amazing when I stop to think about how far we've come, and where we are going next. We're really good at what we do, we have really passionate customers who are often on the cusp of doing something remarkable, and we're starting to show real traction with some exciting new developments. Having super smart co-workers and mentors has been truly invaluable to my professional development. Smart people; incredibly accomplished mentors and colleagues; and opportunity for rapid growth. It's a winning combination that has allowed me to grow a ton even in a short period of time. I like that I get to work on projects that have huge potential impact, and are really fun. There are just so many problems to solve and challenges to overcome. We're not only working on a great problem, but also on great solutions to that problem. I also really love the culture here — people here care a lot about the company and the team and are always working hard to make it better. All of the above, and it seems like we're onto something really big here.Cons: Because of the high hiring bar that Scale has, it can be hard to stand out. A very hardworking, smart person can end up being "average" at Scale, which can sometimes be intimidating.
- 4.0Decent work-life balance but office politics existSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, CAAugust 19, 2026Pros: Pretty good WLB vs what people actually thinkCons: There can be some politics at work.
- 5.0High talent density, social coworkers, and interesting real-world problemsSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeNew York, NYNovember 4, 2025Pros: - Very fast-paced; opportunity to work on unique and niche AI problems for large enterprises, and smart and social colleagues - Competitive compensation and benefits - Opportunity to join at a time to set cultural and organizational normsCons: - Some attrition post meta deal, and the exec is aware and proactively making changes to improve this. - Team runs young, which has pros and cons, although this is also actively being improved upon.
Scale AI Interview Questions
