Wikimedia Foundation

Software Engineer Interview Experience - United Kingdom

June 1, 2021

Neutral ExperienceNo Offer

Process

The interview process with Wikimedia is a long process.

Interview with recruiter.
Interview with two Software developers.
Technical challenge and technical interview with two software developers.
Final Interview with two Wikimedia employees.
Ghosting thereafter...

Positives:

A really nice bunch of people.
Their goal is really inspiring.
Travelling to events all over the world.

Negatives:

The interview process takes ages.
HR is there to send interview invites. They are not answering any other questions.
Ghosting following the final interview.

Questions

Have you contributed to Wikipedia?

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Wikimedia Foundation Software Engineer role in United Kingdom.

Success Rate

0%

Pass Rate

Wikimedia Foundation's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in the United Kingdom is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive0%

Neutral100%

Negative0%

Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Wikimedia Foundation's Software Engineer interview process in United Kingdom.

Wikimedia Foundation Work Experiences

Growth, But Salary Varies

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: Learning opportunity and career growth

Cons: Salary is based on your location, but it is competitive for each region.

Growth, But Salary Varies

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: Learning opportunity and career growth

Cons: Salary is based on your location, but it is competitive for each region.

It's a good place to work but not a good place to grow

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mombasa, Mombasa County, Kenya

Pros: Flexible working hours: 32-40 a week. Get to travel every once in a while. Learn as you go and grow.

Cons: Meetings. Meetings all the time! The Agile process employed is taken out of proportion, leading to meetings all the time. It's a slow environment, which is fine because the decision process to approve features is long, as they work with a lot of legacy code.

It's a good place to work but not a good place to grow

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mombasa, Mombasa County, Kenya

Pros: Flexible working hours: 32-40 a week. Get to travel every once in a while. Learn as you go and grow.

Cons: Meetings. Meetings all the time! The Agile process employed is taken out of proportion, leading to meetings all the time. It's a slow environment, which is fine because the decision process to approve features is long, as they work with a lot of legacy code.

Great people, hard problems

Software Engineer • Current Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

December 12, 2012

Pros: Everyone here believes strongly in the mission. Many of the problems faced by the Wikimedia Foundation are unique; you don't feel like you are re-inventing the wheel. You get to work with amazing people and impact the lives of half a billion people a year.

Cons: Compensation is not competitive for the tech industry due to non-profit status. There is a very vocal community from the projects that often does not trust anything that the WMF does.

Great people, hard problems

Software Engineer • Current Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

December 12, 2012

Pros: Everyone here believes strongly in the mission. Many of the problems faced by the Wikimedia Foundation are unique; you don't feel like you are re-inventing the wheel. You get to work with amazing people and impact the lives of half a billion people a year.

Cons: Compensation is not competitive for the tech industry due to non-profit status. There is a very vocal community from the projects that often does not trust anything that the WMF does.

Growth, But Salary Varies

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: Learning opportunity and career growth

Cons: Salary is based on your location, but it is competitive for each region.

4.0
Growth, But Salary Varies
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Lagos, Nigeria
August 5, 2025
Pros: Learning opportunity and career growth
Cons: Salary is based on your location, but it is competitive for each region.

It's a good place to work but not a good place to grow

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Mombasa, Mombasa County, Kenya

Pros: Flexible working hours: 32-40 a week. Get to travel every once in a while. Learn as you go and grow.

Cons: Meetings. Meetings all the time! The Agile process employed is taken out of proportion, leading to meetings all the time. It's a slow environment, which is fine because the decision process to approve features is long, as they work with a lot of legacy code.

4.0
It's a good place to work but not a good place to grow
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Mombasa, Mombasa County, Kenya
May 12, 2023
Pros: Flexible working hours: 32-40 a week. Get to travel every once in a while. Learn as you go and grow.
Cons: Meetings. Meetings all the time! The Agile process employed is taken out of proportion, leading to meetings all the time. It's a slow environment, which is fine because the decision process to approve features is long, as they work with a lot of legacy code.

Great people, hard problems

Software Engineer • Current Employee

San Francisco, California, United States

December 12, 2012

Pros: Everyone here believes strongly in the mission. Many of the problems faced by the Wikimedia Foundation are unique; you don't feel like you are re-inventing the wheel. You get to work with amazing people and impact the lives of half a billion people a year.

Cons: Compensation is not competitive for the tech industry due to non-profit status. There is a very vocal community from the projects that often does not trust anything that the WMF does.

5.0
Great people, hard problems
Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
December 12, 2012
Pros: Everyone here believes strongly in the mission. Many of the problems faced by the Wikimedia Foundation are unique; you don't feel like you are re-inventing the wheel. You get to work with amazing people and impact the lives of half a billion people a year.
Cons: Compensation is not competitive for the tech industry due to non-profit status. There is a very vocal community from the projects that often does not trust anything that the WMF does.

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