This guide draws on 14 first-hand interview accounts from Hacker News. Candidates describe about 2 rounds on average, most often technical interviews, a phone screen and behavioral interviews.
These 14 writeups cover operations, software engineering roles. All of them were posted under a forum handle, so we could not verify the authors’ identities.
unknown. 2 rounds. Shared by throwawayTwit on hn, 2014-12-25
1Phone interviewsPhone screenTwo phone interview rounds passed before the on-site.
2Onsite interviewTechnicalOn-site round with algorithm questions that proved difficult.Covered: Algorithms
iOS Engineer
Outcome not shared
Experienced. 1 round. Shared by senordevnyc on hn, 2019-12-16
1Technical screenTake-homeCandidate could choose an iOS take-home project instead of a one-hour general coding screen.Covered: iOS
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by samstave on hn, 2024-03-25
1InterviewBehavioralAsked what kind of company the candidate thought Twitter was.Covered: Company understanding
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 3 rounds. Shared by seiji on hn, 2012-07-27
1First technical phone interviewPhone screenTechnical call with an engineer that started late and felt unfriendly.
2Second technical phone interviewPhone screenAnother technical call that repeated many of the earlier questions.
3OnsiteTechnicalIn-person interviews with engineers, described as pleasant.
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 2 rounds. Shared by jghn on hn, 2016-10-21
1Phone screensPhone screenSeveral phone screens, some missed by interviewers and rescheduled.
2Take-homeTake-homeA coding assignment that required scheduling with an engineer.
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
Senior. 1 round. Shared by samstave on hn, 2021-08-25
1Manager interviewHiring managerAsked how prior experience would carry over to the company.Covered: Applying past experience, Openness to learning
Role not stated
Not selected
unknown. 1 round. Shared by phlux on hn, 2011-03-14
1Team interviewsPanelA couple of rounds where the candidate shared views on the product with the team.Covered: Product vision
Infrastructure Engineer
Not selected
unknown, San Francisco, CA. 3 rounds. Shared by leetrout on hn, 2019-12-20
1Team video interviewsTechnicalVideo sessions with the remote data-center team, conducted from headquarters.Covered: Infrastructure
2Lunch with managerHiring managerManager indicated a preference for a local hire.Covered: Location preference
3Afternoon technicalTechnicalMath-heavy session with proof questions and a disguised Cartesian-product SQL reporting problem.Covered: Number theory, Proofs, Prime numbers, SQL joins
Django tooling engineer
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by leetrout on hn, 2022-09-28
1Onsite technical interviewTechnicalInterviewer asked number theory questions unrelated to the Django tooling role.Covered: Number theory, Prime numbers
DevOps Engineer
Outcome not shared
Experienced. 1 round. Shared by samstave on hn, 2022-04-11
1Hiring manager interviewHiring managerAsked what the candidate would change based on past jobs. The manager valued not importing a previous employer's habits.Covered: Engineering culture
Role not stated
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by samstave on hn, 2022-12-18
1InterviewBehavioralAsked what the candidate thought the product fundamentally was.Covered: Product vision
Senior Software Engineer
Not selected
Senior. 4 rounds. Shared by amir734jj on hn, 2021-09-09
1Screening roundsPhone screenSeveral screens over roughly three months.
2System designSystem designTwo interviewers. Feedback said it went well.
3Coding exerciseTechnicalVideo-call pairing where one interviewer pressed on style and edge cases after tests passed. Cited as the failing round.Covered: Java, Edge cases, Code style
4BehavioralBehavioralTwo interviewers. Feedback said it went well.
Software Engineer
Received an offer
unknown. 1 round. Shared by googthrowaway42 on hn, 2020-10-25
1Interview processTechnicalInterviewed and received an offer, which was declined.
Software Engineer
Outcome not shared
unknown. 1 round. Shared by istvan__ on hn, 2015-06-12
1Phone interviewPhone screenSingle phone question requiring a Hamiltonian path in a tree. The interview went poorly.Covered: Graph algorithms, Hamiltonian path in a tree
Twitter interviews: FAQ
What is the interview process like at Twitter?
This guide draws on 14 first-hand interview accounts from Hacker News. Candidates describe about 2 rounds on average, most often technical interviews, a phone screen and behavioral interviews.
What topics does Twitter test in interviews?
Commonly reported topics include Product vision, Number theory, Prime numbers, Algorithms, iOS, Company understanding.
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.
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