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Airbnb Software Engineer Interview Questions

Review this list of 18 Airbnb Software Engineer interview questions and answers verified by hiring managers and candidates.
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
    106 answers
    Video answer for 'Tell me about a time you made a mistake.'
    +95

    "Let me tell you about a time where a website I managed suddenly showed slow performance and the mistake on our side was it was unnoticed until a user reported the issue to management. As a PM for that project, I took full responsibility of the situation and worked with the engineering team to quickly resolve it. This mistake taught me the importance of focusing and monitoring non functional requirements as well in addition to new feature development /adoption where I was mostly spending my time"

    Sreenisha S. - "Let me tell you about a time where a website I managed suddenly showed slow performance and the mistake on our side was it was unnoticed until a user reported the issue to management. As a PM for that project, I took full responsibility of the situation and worked with the engineering team to quickly resolve it. This mistake taught me the importance of focusing and monitoring non functional requirements as well in addition to new feature development /adoption where I was mostly spending my time"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +10 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
    126 answers
    Video answer for 'Tell me about yourself.'
    +118

    "As you know, this is the most important question for any interview. Here is a structure I like to follow, Start with 'I'm currently a SDE/PM/TPM etc with XYZ company.... ' Mention how you got into PM/TPM/SDE field (explaining your journey) Mention 1 or 2 accomplishments Mention what you do outside work (blogging, volunteer etc) Share why are you looking for a new role Ask the interviewer if they have any questions or will like to dive deep into any of your experience"

    Bipin R. - "As you know, this is the most important question for any interview. Here is a structure I like to follow, Start with 'I'm currently a SDE/PM/TPM etc with XYZ company.... ' Mention how you got into PM/TPM/SDE field (explaining your journey) Mention 1 or 2 accomplishments Mention what you do outside work (blogging, volunteer etc) Share why are you looking for a new role Ask the interviewer if they have any questions or will like to dive deep into any of your experience"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +17 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +4 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
    8 answers
    +4

    "I always ask to clarify if this is a brand new team. If so, then I focus on bringing in people with strong technical aptitudes(since I'm hiring for software engineering), but also team members that have experience mentoring and good communication is a must. I look for people who have leadership qualities. I emphasize that building a brand new team isn't something I can do on my own, so the initial hires of that team are very important to help me expand it."

    Catherine I. - "I always ask to clarify if this is a brand new team. If so, then I focus on bringing in people with strong technical aptitudes(since I'm hiring for software engineering), but also team members that have experience mentoring and good communication is a must. I look for people who have leadership qualities. I emphasize that building a brand new team isn't something I can do on my own, so the initial hires of that team are very important to help me expand it."See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +4 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Coding
    +1 more
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  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
    1 answer

    "I'm currently a School Bus Monitor at First Student, I make sure that the students on the bus are seated down, making sure they are safe during the bus ride. Sometimes depending on the day they may need me to help do a wheelchair so I sometimes help the driver out with making sure the wheelchair is safely secure, hooking up the 4 hooks on the wheelchair, putting the lap belt on the student and also making sure the student feels comfortable during the bus ride. After we finished dropping off our"

    Amparo L. - "I'm currently a School Bus Monitor at First Student, I make sure that the students on the bus are seated down, making sure they are safe during the bus ride. Sometimes depending on the day they may need me to help do a wheelchair so I sometimes help the driver out with making sure the wheelchair is safely secure, hooking up the 4 hooks on the wheelchair, putting the lap belt on the student and also making sure the student feels comfortable during the bus ride. After we finished dropping off our"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +4 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
    3 answers

    "Colleague moved to a different role, so I decided to fill in and did outshine in showing results within the group."

    Anjali M. - "Colleague moved to a different role, so I decided to fill in and did outshine in showing results within the group."See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
    4 answers
    Video answer for 'Find the minimum window substring.'

    "What about exploiting the hash set and that is it? def smallestSubstring(s: str, t: str) -> str: if len(t) > len(s): return "" r = len(s) - 1 not_found = True while r > 0 and not_found: subs_set = set(s[0:r + 1]) for c in t: if not c in subs_set: not_found = False if not_found: r -= 1 else: r += 1 l = 0 not_found = True while l < r and not_"

    Gabriele G. - "What about exploiting the hash set and that is it? def smallestSubstring(s: str, t: str) -> str: if len(t) > len(s): return "" r = len(s) - 1 not_found = True while r > 0 and not_found: subs_set = set(s[0:r + 1]) for c in t: if not c in subs_set: not_found = False if not_found: r -= 1 else: r += 1 l = 0 not_found = True while l < r and not_"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +1 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
    2 answers

    "I suggest a 4 step process: Ensure your recruitment process and company's branding are inclusive. This means using inclusive language in your job postings, avoiding gender stereotypes, and making sure your company's website and social media presence are welcoming to people from all backgrounds. Partner with nonprofit and cultural organizations to reach a more diverse pool of candidates. Many organizations can help you connect with candidates from underrepresented groups. These org"

    gdecuri - "I suggest a 4 step process: Ensure your recruitment process and company's branding are inclusive. This means using inclusive language in your job postings, avoiding gender stereotypes, and making sure your company's website and social media presence are welcoming to people from all backgrounds. Partner with nonprofit and cultural organizations to reach a more diverse pool of candidates. Many organizations can help you connect with candidates from underrepresented groups. These org"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +1 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
    +1 more
  • +7

    "Definitely nice to think of this without memorization, but there is a well known algorithm for this problem, which is the Levenshtein Distance. Lev(a,b) = len(a) if len(b) == 0 = len(b) if len(a) == 0 = lev(a[1:], b[1:] if a[0] == b[0] = 1 + min (lev(a, b[1:]), lev(a[1:], b), lev(a[1:], b[1:])) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein_distance I'm sure some optimizations could be made with heuristic."

    Nicholas S. - "Definitely nice to think of this without memorization, but there is a well known algorithm for this problem, which is the Levenshtein Distance. Lev(a,b) = len(a) if len(b) == 0 = len(b) if len(a) == 0 = lev(a[1:], b[1:] if a[0] == b[0] = 1 + min (lev(a, b[1:]), lev(a[1:], b), lev(a[1:], b[1:])) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein_distance I'm sure some optimizations could be made with heuristic."See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +1 more
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
  • Airbnb logoAsked at Airbnb 
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    Software Engineer
    Behavioral
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