Software Engineer Interview Experience - San Francisco, California
Process
The recruiter was nice, thorough, and responsive. Kudos to her!
The interview process afterwards was terrible.
I was instructed to complete a HackerRank challenge with a 15-minute time limit. This is outrageous!
Why would any sensible hiring manager think it's a good idea to screen an engineer in 15 minutes with any challenge or question? Let alone a HackerRank challenge?
Here's the process I took, which "failed" me:
- Spent approximately 5 minutes reading and understanding the question.
- Worked out a preliminary solution on paper.
- Typed my solution in the box, failed some tests, and as soon as I began debugging, time was up!
I am not frustrated; I am disappointed that highly educated engineers and managers think this method of technical assessment is a reasonable way to screen candidates. Engineers and problem-solvers need time to deliberate over even the easiest problems. I did not memorize the solution, and I could not have possibly finished it with edge case checking and testing in 10 minutes. Absolutely ridiculous.
I would never consider working at Yelp.
By the way, I pitched a product initiative to Yelp's recruiter that I know Yelp needs to employ (in fact, I know they've been trying to do it). Well, now they've screened me with a 15-minute HackerRank challenge. They're not looking for passionate engineers; they're looking for "coders" that have some problems and solutions memorized and ready to fire.
Questions
Sort restaurants by their number of reviews.
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 92 interview experiences for the Yelp Software Engineer role in San Francisco, California.
Success Rate
Yelp's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in San Francisco, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Yelp's Software Engineer interview process in San Francisco, California.
Yelp Work Experiences
- 4.0Great company to work for as an engineer, but some things need to changeSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesMarch 19, 2013Pros: It's in the city. Engineers are self-directed, and management is horizontal. Engineers are friendly, have a strong sense of humor, and are happy. The company thoroughly has faith that you're self-driven and will get your stuff done. This is a big gamble, since some engineers may take advantage of this, but from my experience, most engineers still work hard and are dedicated to the success of the company. They're liberal in terms of working from home and coming in whenever you want to. There are unique opportunities available in specific areas as this company continues to grow rapidly, especially for engineers interested in: * Search * Spam detecting * Machine learning * Data miningCons: The awkward division between sales and engineering, which is obvious by reading other reviews. The culture and goals of each are completely different. They might as well be two companies. None of this gets explained to you. Yelp is a sad place for designers or design-minded folk, at least for the time being. Yelp hires very few real designers and leaves most design work to product managers, who typically only have a technical background. Being a public company forces product to give priority to short-term revenue over building great products. For example, banner ads are all over the site, and many of these ads are not only ugly but directly contradict Yelp's mission of connecting people with local businesses (e.g., Taco Bell). In many ways, Yelp is very corporate, as much as they would hate to admit it. Terribly inefficient workflows and outdated internal tools are maintained despite constant griping. Important decisions often go unquestioned. Quality is not job one. The politics of priority or "MVP" prevent good ideas from even seeing the light of day.
- 4.0Awesome culture, unimpressive paySoftware Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesOctober 30, 2025Pros: Lots of great people. No toxicity. Excellent engineers.Cons: Pay isn't competitive. Some toxic management.
- 4.0Friendly Culture, Fragmented EngineeringSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesNovember 19, 2024Pros: Very open and encouraging culture. People are super friendly and supportive.Cons: Engineering is a bit fragmented across orgs and feature teams. Everyone is trying to build their own thing, which results in slow development velocity.
Yelp Interview Questions
