This guide draws on 24 first-hand interview accounts from Hacker News. Candidates describe about 2 rounds on average, most often technical interviews, a hiring manager interview and behavioral interviews.
These 23 writeups cover software engineering roles. All of them were posted under a forum handle, so we could not verify the authors’ identities.
unknown. 1 round. Shared by ygjb on hn, 2023-04-08
1Onsite interviewTechnicalLive coding portion was severely hampered by a recent concussion.
Role not stated
Not selected
unknown. 2 rounds. Shared by julianozen on hn, 2018-12-05
1Phone screenPhone screenInitial call with relevant questions.
2OnsiteTechnicalLong day of fair, job-relevant, well-prepared questions.
Role not stated
Not selected
unknown. 1 round. Shared by briangle on hn, 2023-07-05
1Founder interviewHiring managerConversational interview with both co-founders in a small meeting room.
Role not stated
Not selected
unknown. 1 round. Shared by germxn on hn, 2023-02-21
1Founder interviewHiring managerConversational interview with both co-founders in a small meeting room.
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by nostrademons on hn, 2021-10-15
1Technical interviewsTechnicalQuestions were simplified versions of problems the company actually faces.Covered: Business-related problems
Role not stated
Not selected
unknown. 2 rounds. Shared by mgraczyk on hn, 2021-12-01
1Initial interviewsTechnicalNo response for about nine months after interviewing.
2Re-interviewTechnicalAsked to interview again for a different role, then rejected.
Software Engineer
Outcome not shared
unknown. 2 rounds. Shared by sanderjd on hn, 2022-03-09
1Bug squashTechnicalUsing own IDE and language, located and fixed a bug in a sizeable codebase given a failing test.Covered: Debugging, Large unfamiliar codebase, Failing test
2IntegrationTechnicalLive screen-shared exercise wiring unfamiliar JSON and HTTP libraries to several API endpoints within an hour.Covered: HTTP clients, JSON parsing, API integration
Senior Software Engineer
Not selected
Senior. 2 rounds. Shared by rajasimon on hn, 2021-11-30
1Coding roundOnline assessmentOnline coding challenge on a hosted assessment platform.
2Recruiter callBehavioralIntroductory call about background and interest in the payments space, after which the candidate was rejected.Covered: Motivation, Payments interest
Technical Support Engineer
Outcome not shared
unknown. 4 rounds. Shared by readonthegoapp on hn, 2021-11-18
1Recruiter screenPhone screenPleasant screening call that laid out the remaining process.
2Live codingTechnicalDescribed as a one-hour live coding session.
3HomeworkTake-homeDescribed as a take-home assignment.
4One-on-onesFinalDescribed as four or five individual interviews followed by reference checks.
Role not stated
Received an offer
unknown. 1 round. Shared by jdreaver on hn, 2020-12-05
1Practical interviewsTechnicalHands-on, job-like problems rather than algorithm puzzles.Covered: Practical coding
Role not stated
Not selected
unknown. 1 round. Shared by philovivero on hn, 2021-12-01
1InterviewTechnicalAn interviewer who had seen the candidate's conference talk argued against its positions throughout.
1Interview loopFinalTold by email and phone after the loop that the job was theirs, then never contacted again.
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by jsnk on hn, 2022-05-29
1Practical coding interviewTechnicalPractical problems on parsing, searching and transforming strings and arrays, harder than expected.Covered: String manipulation, Hash maps, Regular expressions
Engineering Manager
Not selected
Manager. 3 rounds. Shared by temp1410 on hn, 2021-11-30
1Hiring manager screenHiring managerThe hiring manager missed the scheduled screening call, and the candidate was moved to onsite anyway.
2OnsiteBehavioralAbout five casual conversations about management experience, not very technical.Covered: Management stories
3Hiring manager onsite slotHiring managerThe hiring manager again did not appear. Rejection came weeks later as a template.
Engineering Manager of Managers
Not selected
Manager. 4 rounds. Shared by danrocks on hn, 2021-11-30
1Hiring manager screenPhone screenShort call that the hiring manager said needed only 20 minutes.
2Interview loopBehavioralFrequently rescheduled sessions, many announced as 20-minute conversations, with only one technical interviewer.Covered: Leadership
3Follow-up with hiring managerHiring managerAfter passing the loop, an unexpected extra round with two questions on platforms and process.Covered: Platforms, Process enforcement
4ReferencesFinalReferences were checked, then the candidate heard nothing for weeks before being told another candidate was chosen.
Software Engineer II
Received an offer
unknown. 2 rounds. Shared by sfotm on hn, 2021-12-01
1OnsiteTechnicalDay of interviews with positive feedback. Phone screen skipped thanks to references.
2Team fit callsHiring managerSeveral hours of team-matching calls before an offer at a lower level than applied for.
Role not stated
Not selected
unknown. 1 round. Shared by wonder_er on hn, 2020-11-18
1Live codingTechnicalA live algorithmic coding challenge that went poorly.Covered: Algorithms
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 3 rounds. Shared by tidepod12 on hn, 2019-08-28
1Early interviewsPhone screenCalls with long gaps and interviewers arriving late.
2Third interviewBehavioralBilled as a coding round but turned out to be behavioral.
3Final roundFinalRepeatedly rescheduled, then cancelled without follow-up.
Software Engineer
Not selected
unknown. 1 round. Shared by noirbot on hn, 2019-08-28
1OnsiteTechnicalEach session had a clearly defined goal described in advance in a prep document.
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by carterdmorgan on hn, 2024-07-10
1Bug-fix interviewTechnicalFind and fix a bug deliberately planted in a fork of a popular Java JSON library.Covered: Debugging, Java, Jackson library
Engineering leadership
Not selected
Manager. 1 round. Shared by victor9000 on hn, 2022-10-26
1Leadership interviewBehavioralAsked for the most impactful past contributions. An answer centered on preventing team burnout fell flat.Covered: Most impactful contributions, Burnout prevention, Process improvement
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by noleetcode on hn, 2021-12-01
1Coding interviewTechnicalPromised a real-world problem with your own IDE, but received a puzzle-style question from an unprepared, uncollaborative interviewer.Covered: Algorithm puzzle
Software Engineer
Not selected
unknown. 1 round. Shared by acconrad on hn, 2021-12-01
1System designSystem designInterviewer repeatedly cut off explanations to push through the whole system. The two never clicked.
What Stripe is hiring for now
724 open roles in our index. Advertised pay floors run $157k to $206k (median $175k, from 25 postings that state pay).
Most-posted roles
Software Engineer, New Grad6
Software Engineer, Intern4
Sales Development Representative3
GTM Strategy & Operations Analyst3
Software Engineer, Intern (Summer or Winter)3
Account Executive, Product - Local Payment Methods3
This guide draws on 24 first-hand interview accounts from Hacker News. Candidates describe about 2 rounds on average, most often technical interviews, a hiring manager interview and behavioral interviews.
What topics does Stripe test in interviews?
Commonly reported topics include Debugging, Business-related problems, Large unfamiliar codebase, Failing test, HTTP clients, JSON parsing.
These guides summarize public, first-hand interview experiences shared by candidates. They describe the shape of each loop and the topics that came up, not a leaked question bank, and every experience links back to its original source. Processes change often. Treat this as directional prep, not a script.