Updated by Palantir candidates
Forward Deployed Engineer Interview Experience
Interview process
Technical interview was enjoyable since it was less so rigorous LeetCode-style problems, and more practical coding to implement particular features. Prioritize a working solution over an unfinished, optimized code.
- Recruiter screen
- Technical interview
- Phone interview
- Final round
Interview rounds
6 questions across 4 roundsRecruiter screen
1 questionQuestion types asked
Specific questions asked
Background questions (your past experiences, projects, etc)
This is done by the 3rd party headhunter that eventually referred me to a Palantir recruiter.
Technical interview
2 questionsQuestion types asked
Specific questions asked
Write the code to implement one of the core features that you have specified in the design
Phone interview
1 questionQuestion types asked
Specific questions asked
Background questions (your past experiences, projects, etc.)
Final round
2 questionsQuestion types asked
Specific questions asked
Learning round: given a documentation of an obscure coding language, solve problems.
You can't really prepare much for this one. Show up with the right attitude, and ask the right questions. Be careful on asking questions that can make you seem like you need a lot of handholding / guidance to solve the problem -- that caused me to fail this round.
This was a decomposition question. I went back and forth with the interviewer and created a basic system design to implement Yelp. We discussed technical considerations, and add more layers of complexities as we progress. Be opinionated and be ready to support your design choices. Palantir values opinionated people.
Interview tips
Be careful with the questions you ask during the learning round. High-level, clarifying questions are okay. But make sure your questions dont make you come across like you need too much handholding.
Company culture
I applied for FDSE - Commercial path, and was connected to a team working with the LA power utility company at that time. They were developing a system to detect peak hours for the electric grid so they can adjust the power delivery to minimize the risk of forest fire when the grids are overloaded during a dry season. The mission felt impactful and beneficial to the community surrounding it. The downside is that there are other parts of the company that deals with more government / defense work, that is more on the controversial side.
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More Palantir interview experiences
“The process was well organized and the interviewers were collaborative. I did well when thinking aloud and adapting to new information. I could have managed time better during the unfamiliar-codebase round.”
“Phone screen and first coding technical was easy, the hardest part for me was the SQL learning, I've never used SQL prior”
See all 3 Palantir Forward Deployed Engineer interview experiences →
