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%
Drug test: 2%
Other: 2%
Group panel interview: 1%
IQ intelligence test: 1%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Yelp in Dec 2009
Interview
I applied the job online and a recruiter called me back for arranging an interview with a Engineer at Yelp in the following week.
This position is a Software Engineer in Search and Data Mining.
The interviewer first introduced himself and then asked about my background and experience. I am a PhD in Machine Learning and Data Mining. However, my work experience did nothing in the search field but some regular software engineering works.
The interviewer sounded so disappointed about my work experience.
Then he asked me about an industrial search question but I could not understand it. I asked the interviewer to clarify / rephase the question but he just repeated it. As I could not understand it at all, he stopped me and said the interview was ended.
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