Software Engineer (Internship) Interview Experience - Waterloo, Canada
Process
Before applying, you need to complete their coding challenge and write a cover letter. They also mentioned creating a shop, though I did not do that.
The first interview was the "life story" portion, as mentioned numerous times before. They asked about my past experiences, and the most important aspect was explaining why I took the actions I did. Overall, it was a very enjoyable interview.
About a week later, an onsite interview was scheduled. This was the interview I did not enjoy.
For the first 30 minutes, you present a personal project and discuss its technical aspects and the challenges you faced. The second part involved discussing the challenge you created and how you could build further upon it.
My problem with the second interview was how condescending the interviewers were. I did not feel a good vibe during the interview. The entire time, it seemed like they would rather be doing something else, which I felt was very disrespectful.
Questions
Life Story
Explain technical portions of personal project.
How would you implement additional features to the challenge?
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the Shopify Software Engineer (Internship) role in Waterloo, Canada.
Success Rate
Shopify's interview process for their Software Engineer (Internship) roles in Waterloo, Canada is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Shopify's Software Engineer (Internship) interview process in Waterloo, Canada.
Shopify Work Experiences
- 2.0Fun atmosphere but slow pace and limited guidanceSoftware Engineer (Internship) • Former EmployeeToronto, ONJuly 30, 2026Pros: It was a fun intern class, basically a summer camp.Cons: There was a slow pace of movement and not much solid guidance.
- 5.0Great employer with flexible hours, limited ownershipSoftware Engineer (Internship) • Former EmployeeToronto, ONMay 16, 2026Pros: Great employer with a lot of benefits and flexible working hours as long as you got the job done.Cons: There was less ownership than I'd like, but it was ultimately down to the fact that it's such a large company.
- 2.0Good perks, bad cultureSoftware Developer • Current EmployeeWaterloo, Ontario, CanadaMarch 3, 2017Pros: Based on my limited research, it appears to pay above market, and has some perks that are less common in the region.Cons: The company is very much a monoculture and lacks a lot of diversity (in terms of gender and race). There is often a large difference between the values that it touts and the expectations that are held. There is a lot of opportunity to make change, but only if you can navigate the various barriers and implicit constraints.
Shopify Interview Questions
