Process
The process was mostly fine.
It started with a timed online coding assessment through HackerRank. I thought I failed because I didn't pass all the test cases, but apparently not.
I then moved on to a screening interview with a recruiter, followed by another standalone coding interview, and finally a four-part panel.
The panel consisted of four 45-minute interviews:
- Another coding question
- System design
- A non-technical past project review, which was more about my working style
- A communication/culture interview
I thought I did well throughout but was ultimately rejected.
I didn't receive any feedback until I asked. The only feedback I got was that I was not senior enough for the needs of the role. I found that confusing because the salary range for the role was very wide, which I thought meant they would have been open to lower-level or intermediate engineers, but apparently not.
I believe if you need senior ability, you should post a senior salary. Also, in my opinion, three separate coding rounds is overkill.
Questions
What was something you worked on that you were proud of?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 28 interview experiences for the Yelp Software Engineer role in Canada.
Success Rate
11%
Pass Rate
Yelp's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Canada is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive57%
Neutral25%
Negative18%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Yelp's Software Engineer interview process in Canada.
Yelp Work Experiences
5.0
Great culture and mission, great engineering environment
Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
February 2, 2018
Pros: Good culture.
Fun work environment.
Engineers have a lot of freedom.
No deadlines (!).
Very passionate product team.
Very capable engineers.
Very little process and limited meetings, especially for engineers.
Good speed of execution: Code is deployed 3 times a day for the main monolith and can be deployed unlimited times on demand for backend services. Apps are released every 2 months.
Great location: Huge building and right in downtown.
Great stock refresh plan.
Very open culture when it comes to execs talking about roadmaps and honest company performance.
Very collaborative environment - you can ping any engineer on any team on IRC in team chat rooms. There are on-point members for every team who will respond to any questions, even for debugging code (wow).
Free lunch on Fridays, free birthday cake from the team on birthdays. $ to spend on 'productivity items' like your favorite keyboard, book, or noise-canceling headphones.
Recently, efforts are being made to show gratitude and make employees feel valuable (it's working), like Yelp-iversary cards (work anniversary).
Quarterly 'reviews' which aren’t really performance reviews - they are conversations with your manager to set expectations and give feedback.
Free ASL classes, free movie nights every fortnight.
I worked for a big company before this and though that company has a big name, I didn’t enjoy the culture or work at all. I’m blown away by this company.
Cons: Might not find challenging projects depending on the team.
Outsiders have a perception that Yelp is not doing anything new or innovative.
The quarterly review system is great, but engineers don’t know what to look forward to or how to build their career.
Need to be proactive about your career growth at the company.
3.0
Good people, disconnected management
Software Engineer • Former Employee
June 10, 2025
Pros: Good pay, good people, and a good work-life balance.
Cons: Disconnected management, frequent re-orgs, dropping pay.
3.0
Nothing new going on
Software Engineer • Former Employee
San Francisco, California, United States
September 27, 2017
Pros: Engineers are clever and experienced.
Managers are understanding and not pushy.
A relaxed and laid-back work environment.
Free beer on tap and a good variety of snacks.
Good work-life balance.
Cons: Unmotivated engineers and managers.
Lack of notice on product details.
Nothing new to work on, except on the data mining team.
Very conservative approach to product and too many unmaintained features inside the app.
- 5.0Great culture and mission, great engineering environmentSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesFebruary 2, 2018Pros: Good culture. Fun work environment. Engineers have a lot of freedom. No deadlines (!). Very passionate product team. Very capable engineers. Very little process and limited meetings, especially for engineers. Good speed of execution: Code is deployed 3 times a day for the main monolith and can be deployed unlimited times on demand for backend services. Apps are released every 2 months. Great location: Huge building and right in downtown. Great stock refresh plan. Very open culture when it comes to execs talking about roadmaps and honest company performance. Very collaborative environment - you can ping any engineer on any team on IRC in team chat rooms. There are on-point members for every team who will respond to any questions, even for debugging code (wow). Free lunch on Fridays, free birthday cake from the team on birthdays. $ to spend on 'productivity items' like your favorite keyboard, book, or noise-canceling headphones. Recently, efforts are being made to show gratitude and make employees feel valuable (it's working), like Yelp-iversary cards (work anniversary). Quarterly 'reviews' which aren’t really performance reviews - they are conversations with your manager to set expectations and give feedback. Free ASL classes, free movie nights every fortnight. I worked for a big company before this and though that company has a big name, I didn’t enjoy the culture or work at all. I’m blown away by this company.Cons: Might not find challenging projects depending on the team. Outsiders have a perception that Yelp is not doing anything new or innovative. The quarterly review system is great, but engineers don’t know what to look forward to or how to build their career. Need to be proactive about your career growth at the company.
- 3.0Good people, disconnected managementSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeJune 10, 2025Pros: Good pay, good people, and a good work-life balance.Cons: Disconnected management, frequent re-orgs, dropping pay.
- 3.0Nothing new going onSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesSeptember 27, 2017Pros: Engineers are clever and experienced. Managers are understanding and not pushy. A relaxed and laid-back work environment. Free beer on tap and a good variety of snacks. Good work-life balance.Cons: Unmotivated engineers and managers. Lack of notice on product details. Nothing new to work on, except on the data mining team. Very conservative approach to product and too many unmaintained features inside the app.
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