I'm not sure if anyone from Stripe actively reviews or acts on candidate feedback, but I want to highlight something important: a candidate’s performance in interviews is often heavily influenced by how the panelists conduct the session.
In my case, I felt very well-prepared. I had done three mock interviews before Stripe and walked into the process confident in my readiness. However, the actual experience varied drastically depending on the engagement level of the interviewers. During the Execution and Strategy interview, one panelist had their video off the entire time, and the main interviewer never once made eye contact,his camera was angled at his forehead while he typed throughout. He rushed through questions without engaging meaningfully with my answers, and the lack of interaction made it extremely difficult to build any rapport or demonstrate depth.
In contrast, the management round held 45 minutes later was far more conversational and created space for a thoughtful exchange. That difference matters.
I did not make it through the process, and while I’m open to having fallen short on some answers, I also believe that interviewers have a responsibility to create an environment where candidates can do their best work. Unfortunately, that wasn’t consistently the case here. It’s disappointing to receive a rejection without any feedback, especially after investing so much time and energy.
Interviews should be designed to bring out the best in candidate. I hope this note is taken seriously and helps improve the process for others.
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Stripe (Bengaluru)
Interview
Process was smooth, well defined. There is enough guidance to prepare. There was a design round, a technical presentation round, a role play and a few managerial rounds. Overall well executed.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked to design a key component of their payments system.
long and time consuming but still a great experience for the candidates. definitely have a high bar when it comes to hiring and leadership. i think the organizations and processes interview doesn’t lend itself to people coming from non big tech backgrounds but that’s my only feedback.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give and example of a time you had to get a bunch of stakeholder buy in across the company?
I applied online. I interviewed at Stripe (San Francisco, CA) in Jul 2025
Interview
Applied online and moved through a quick recruiter screen. The mini-onsite had two rounds - first was around people management: handling tough team dynamics, hiring approach, and leading through ambiguity. Second was technical: a bit of live coding and a lightweight system design - nothing crazy, but you need to be clear on trade-offs and decision-making. The onsite had four rounds. Started with system design with a tech lead - think ledger service or analytics pipeline. They care more about structured thinking and scalability than perfect answers. Then came two management-focused rounds - one behavioral, one role-play. Expect scenarios like shifting a top IC off a project they love, or resolving engineer conflicts. Final round was a 20-min technical presentation based on a 1000-word doc about a project I led - deep tech dive plus business outcomes, followed by intense Q&A. Used Prepfully for mocks - helped a ton with surfacing the right kinds of examples and stress-testing my manager stories. The process is a little tough but fair - make sure you put strong emphasis on clarity, ownership, and leadership judgment.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
design a system that aggregates and consumes analytics events
Engineering Manager applicants have rated the interview process at Stripe with 3.1 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 33% positive. To compare, the company-average is 45.8% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Engineering Manager roles take an average of 27 days to get hired, when considering 22 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Stripe overall takes an average of 26 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Stripe as a Engineering Manager according to 22 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 24%
Group panel interview: 20%
One on one interview: 18%
Presentation: 10%
Skills test: 8%
Background check: 6%
IQ intelligence test: 6%
Other: 4%
Drug test: 2%
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