Process
I applied for a position on LinkedIn.
There are three stages in the interview process:
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The recruiter reached out to me and went over my resume and why I am looking for a new role. They also went over the steps of the hiring process.
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The first round interview was with an engineer on Toast and was a LeetCode medium problem. They asked questions regarding Toast and projects the interviewer is working on.
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I made it to the onsite interview. The onsite round consists of four rounds.
The first round was a coding round which was not a LeetCode problem but related to problems Toast is trying to solve. I was allowed to use outside resources since I needed to use other Java libraries outside of the basic data structure libraries. The interview was with two software engineers. I asked clarifying questions. They really helped me to pass if I was close.
The second round was an interview with a Product Manager and another senior engineer, discussing my work experience and using STAR-based questions.
The third round was a system design. This round had mixed feelings. The problem was related to what Toast does. The interview was with a Tech Lead and another engineer. The Tech Lead didn't seem like they wanted to be there and didn't feel interactive like what one would expect for a system design interview.
The fourth round was with the hiring manager and more STAR-based questions. The manager was friendly and nice.
I heard back in 48 hours with feedback.
Questions
Cannot give due to NDA.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 30 interview experiences for the Toast Software Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
Toast'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 good feelings for Toast's Software Engineer interview process in United States.
Toast Work Experiences
- 4.0Great Benefits, Friendly FacesSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeDublin, Leinster, IrelandSeptember 21, 2025Pros: Great Benefits Friendly People Office in great locationCons: None I can think of
- 5.0Great place to grow as an engineerSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeBoston, Massachusetts, United StatesNovember 10, 2023Pros: Knowledgeable, helpful, and kind teammates. There is lots of room for new engineers to design and contribute to interesting problems.Cons: On the ground, engineers are not often part of the planning process. There's not a lot of automation infrastructure in place, leading to lots of manual testing and deploying.
- 4.0Great company with a great culture, but it depends on the departmentSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeDublin, Dublin, IrelandJune 5, 2024Pros: Flexibility in WFH One of the best health insurance plans 400 euro bi-annual voucher to spend on home office / amenities 1050 euro education stipend 900 home office stipend which has been deprecated as of May 2024 and has been replaced by the 400 euro bi-annual voucher Often breakfast / lunch from various customer restaurants of Toast in Dublin Often team events Often volunteering opportunities with Toast.org Very nice volunteering program where each employee receives 25 euro to donate to a selected charity through Toast.org 4 weeks sabbatical after 5 years of service In office snacks / coffee / drinks (alcohol and soft) Rich parental leave program All the other standard benefits - Tax Save / Bike To WorkCons: Toast's unlimited PTO is a tale. When I started, it was promoted as unlimited; however, that quickly changed to be flexible. Toast gives 20 days statutory PTO, which is a rolling balance, and any days in excess of that are at the manager's discretion. Non-production environments are a nightmare, often non-functional due to too much freedom to release breaking changes. This has often caused days of delays trying to figure out why pre-production is unstable and non-functional, leading to high levels of frustration and low morale in the team. Some technical decisions are questionable and non-logical. One of them being that DynamoDB is being pushed for everything. LaunchDarkly is being used as a feature flag across Toast, even for non-product features, which makes absolutely no sense. One downside of Dublin is that directors, especially in Fintech, try to promote a culture of zero outages/accidents, which leads to engineers being reluctant to declare an incident. This isn't the case with their US counterparts.
Toast Interview Questions
