Insights on Stripe Interviews from an Insider
About Me
I joined Stripe in 2019 and have been an interviewer for about two years. I'm currently at the senior level and am preparing to be promoted to staff this year.
Interview Style
Stripe's interviews are different from other big tech companies and have little to do with LeetCode. We mainly focus on evaluating:
- Everyday programming habits
- Code quality
- Speed
Although Stripe's question bank clearly defines the passing band and rubrics for each question, each interviewer has their own style. From my observation, most people don't decide pass or fail based on the rubrics.
How to Impress
The easiest way to make a good impression on Stripe interviewers is:
- High code quality
- Fast completion speed
- Simple and clear description of thought process
- Humble attitude
These align with Stripe's culture code. I feel that people at Stripe are generally quite smart (though I don't count myself), so appearing smart and humble is very beneficial.
Candidate Level
General Trends
From a macro perspective, since I became an interviewer:
- Competition has noticeably intensified
- The bar has been raised (reflected in the explicitly higher passing band in the rubrics)
L2 Candidates
My general evaluation criteria are:
- Code quality
- Speed
For design aspects, as long as the candidate isn't completely clueless or without ideas, I would pass them.
L3 Candidates
The requirements for L3 are much higher. Many senior-level candidates interviewing for L3 are likely to be downgraded to high-band L2, followed by a long promotion journey.
Note: Stripe has an unwritten rule that if you don't get promoted to L3 within three years, you're likely to be PIP'd out.
L3 Requirements
- Strong foundation in data-driven design
- Ability to articulate which solution to choose for different situations
- Analysis of pros and cons, scalability, performance, etc.
- Proficiency in different programming languages and databases
Stripe mainly uses three languages: Java, Go, and Ruby. It's very common to communicate between services in different codebases using different languages. A senior's familiarity with different tech stacks greatly determines the quality of their design and completion speed.
Preparation Tips
After entering 2024, Stripe HR has increased the frequency of refreshing the question bank. This is because more interviewers have reported candidates' answer speed and fluency being too impressive, likely due to having seen the original questions.
Important: Try to act more natural during the interview!
That's all for now. I wrote this while unable to sleep. I'll update periodically in the future. I've disclosed quite a bit of interview-related information, so I'm staying anonymous. Good luck everyone, I hope you find good jobs in 2024!
Consider checking out some real questions Stripe has asked in the past here. We aim to keep the content as updated as possible, so you might actually encounter the same problems during your interview. You can also find resources for other companies here.