Software Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Yelp with 2.9 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 50% positive. To compare, the company-average is 55.5% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Engineer roles take an average of 19 days to get hired, when considering 318 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Yelp overall takes an average of 18 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Yelp as a Software Engineer according to 318 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 46%
One on one interview: 18%
Skills test: 16%
Presentation: 9%
Background check: 4%
Personality test: 2%
Other: 2%
Drug test: 2%
Group panel interview: 1%
IQ intelligence test: 1%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Yelp in Mar 2018
Interview
Initially contacted by recruiter.
First step is a 15-minute HackerRank online coding test. This was a fairly easy sorting question.
Second step is a 45-minute Skype interview. The first 10 minutes or so were questions about my resume and background, as well as "Why Yelp." Then there was 30 minutes of coding on a coderpad. The question was similar to the "design" style questions on Leetcode, around a medium level for optimal solution. A few minutes at the end were left for questions.
Third step is two back-to-back 45-minute Skype interviews. Each of these progressed like the first, with background questions and the majority of the time coding. Then, a few minutes at the end were left for questions. The first question was an easy level, the second a medium. The first question was unique and not like most leetcode problems. The second was a variation of the Leetcode merge interval problem.
After a bit more than a week (and two follow up emails), I received a rejection from the recruiter.
All of my interviewers were professional, and I thought the coding questions were reasonable. I liked that they weren't all just straight leetcode questions like most places.
Leetcode style interview online via link, then a 1 on 1 technical interview with a lead developer also online where you can ask questions about the role and working at yelp, later more in depth technical tests and finally references and psicological tests.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Talk about the project you are the most proud of, why do you want to work at yelp
Very intense. 4 back to back 45 minute interviews. One behaviour and four technical interviews.
Nice people but got the vibe everyone was happy with the work as it wasn’t too challenging.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Yelp (Toronto, ON) in May 2025
Interview
Around 3 different rounds with a mix of behavioural and technical. Last round features on-site which lasts the whole day, where there are 2 dsa rounds, 1 system design round and 1 recruiter round to end the day.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Walk us through one project you have done, and some of the challenges you encountered while working on this project