Preparing for an interview at Instacart? This guide will walk you through exactly what to expect during the interview process and help you create winning answers to common Instacart interview questions
Founded in 2012 Instacart has grown rapidly into a leading online grocery platform valued at over $39 billion. With operations across over 5500 cities in North America, the company delivers groceries and other home essentials to customers in as fast as an hour.
Instacart is a compelling place to build your career with great perks, interesting technical challenges, and lots of room for growth However, the interview process is quite rigorous
This guide will explore:
- Instacart’s interview stages and timeline
- The types of interview questions asked
- Tips to ace each portion of the process
- Sample answers to common questions
Let’s dive in and get you ready to land your dream role at Instacart!
Overview of Instacart’s Interview Process
The typical Instacart interview process consists of:
- 30 minute recruiter phone screen
- 45 minute technical phone interview
- 3-4 hour onsite with a coding challenge, system design, and behavioral interviews
From initial recruiter screen to offer, the process usually spans 2-4 weeks.
The questions aim to assess both your technical chops and soft skills. Instacart also involves interviewers from different teams, so you get diverse perspectives.
While challenging, being prepared can set you up for success.
Technical Phone Interview Questions
The 45 minute technical phone screen focuses on coding abilities. This round is conducted via CodeSignal, allowing you to code in the language you prefer.
Some examples of technical questions asked include:
- Convert dollars to euros given an exchange rate
- Optimize an API request
- Design a key-value store
- Calculate edit distance between two strings
- Evaluate expressions
To ace this round, you should:
- Brush up on data structures like arrays, strings, stacks, queues, trees, and hash tables
- Review algorithms for sorting, searching, dynamic programming, etc.
- Practice coding clearly and efficiently in a time-crunched environment
The goal is to show strong technical aptitude while communicating and collaborating effectively.
Onsite Interview Questions
Instacart’s onsite interview is 3-4 hours and consists of:
Coding
You’ll face another CodeSignal-administered coding challenge similar to the phone screen. Example topics include:
- Parsing and processing data from files
- Manipulating matrices
- Building stacks, queues, and hash tables
To succeed:
- Clarify requirements and ask questions
- Consider edge cases
- Optimize for readability and performance
System Design
The system design interview is make-or-break. You’ll conceptualize and discuss complex systems like:
- Database model for an Instacart-like system
- Tracking shipments from warehouse to customer
- Payment processing
To stand out:
- Ask clarifying questions
- Think through tradeoffs of different approaches
- Diagram your design using whiteboard or digital tools
- Justify your decisions
Behavioral
Behavioral questions allow interviewers to learn more about you and assess culture fit.
Some examples include:
- Tell me about yourself
- Why do you want to work at Instacart?
- Describe a challenging project you worked on
- Talk about a time you faced conflict on a team
To excel:
- Structure responses using the STAR method (situation, task, action, result)
- Emphasize teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, and other relevant strengths
- Be authentic and personable
5 Key Tips for Acing Your Instacart Interview
Here are some top strategies to shine throughout Instacart’s process:
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Practice mock interviews – Simulate the experience and polish your interview skills
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Research the company – Understand Instacart’s mission, culture, and products
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Review your resume – Refresh yourself on your own background and accomplishments
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Prepare questions to ask – Ask smart, thoughtful questions that show your interest
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Follow up and express your enthusiasm – Reiterate your fit through thank you notes
With preparation and confidence, you’ll be ready to have a stellar interview and launch an exciting career at Instacart. Good luck!
Step 2: Technical Phone Screen
Instacart’s technical phone screen lasts about an hour. They use CodeSignal.
- Coding (45 mins). This round will also be held in CodeSignal, just like the technical phone screen. You can use any language that CodeSignal supports. Read the Coding section below to learn more about the types of questions you can expect.
- Second coding. As above.
- System design (45 mins). This section is really important and usually where people fail. You can use any tooling you’d like, e. g. , Google Draw or Excalidraw. Read the section below on System Design to learn more about the types of questions you can expect.
- Behavioral (45 mins). This interview will be conducted by a hiring manager. Read the section below called “Behavioral” to learn more about the kinds of questions you can expect.
Instacart’s Interview Process for Software Engineers: 3 Steps
Mid to senior-level engineers interviewing at Instacart can expect the following process:
- Recruiter call (30 minutes)
- Technical phone screen (45 mins)
- Onsite (3-4 hours)
Instacart has a hybrid hiring process: it’s not fully decentralized or centralized. You usually apply for or are brought in for a general job opening, and then they choose which team you interview for. They will be from different parts of the company, but the hiring manager for the job you are applying for will usually be there from the beginning. You may only be able to interview once, but if the team doesn’t offer you the job, you may still have a chance with another team.
The entire process takes about 2-4 weeks.
General advice:
- Instacart doesn’t ask questions that need you to know a lot about complicated or academic data structures and algorithms. There may still be some LeetCode-themed questions, but they won’t be ones that require you to know a lot about niche trees, dynamic programming, etc. Brush up on the basics, and you should be fine.
- It is important to practice system design because that interview can make or break you and is definitely used to level you.
How To Pass Instacart Interview Questions (2020)
FAQ
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