Interview prep · 42 roles · 30 countries · 221 guides
Know the bar before the interview.
Raise your odds in every round.
Interviews are won by candidates who know what's being graded. Each briefing gives you that for your role and level: what interviewers listen for, the questions you'll face, and the mistakes that cost strong candidates the offer. Free, no signup.
Put it to workThe tools the guides lead to
Mock interview
AI mock interview on any job
A full round on the real posting: spoken questions, follow-ups, a graded debrief, kept in your account, encrypted.
7 rounds · runs on the JD · private · first mock free
Free scan
Scan a real job description
Paste a job and get ready for it: the questions you'll face, your fit, and the gaps to close.
Predicted questions · fit score · comp · ATS check
Free resume review
Raise your odds of getting shortlisted
An honest read before your next application: how a recruiter skims you, how the ATS parses you, and the five fixes that matter most.
Recruiter score · ATS score · level signal · 5 fixes
Free practice · no sign-up
The twelve questions every interview asks
What each one is really testing, a full guide behind it, and somewhere to say your answer out loud and have it scored.
12 questions · 12 guides · scored out loud · free
Reader favorites
First person, from the Reddit postsWhy you got rejectedHOT
Why you didn't get the job
Seven reasons from the person who decided, at both stages: the ones that stop you before the interview, and the ones that end a loop that felt like it went well.
930K+ views1.4K upvotes · Reddit
Engineering managementHOT
Why engineering managers fail interviews
The six anti-patterns that sink strong EM candidates, from someone who has interviewed hundreds of them.
222K views252 upvotes · Reddit
Leadership careerHOT
How to become an engineering director
Three promotions in six years, first person: what worked, what didn't, and the best questions from the comments answered at the end.
223K views242 upvotes · Reddit
The resume screenNEW
How a hiring manager screens resumes
Ten resumes, thirty minutes, and the five things he actually looked at before the shortlist changed the next morning.
200K views200+ upvotes · Reddit
Getting hiredNEW
What hiring managers actually look for
The profile of the candidates who get hired, in seven traits from the deciding side of the table.
100K+ views178+ upvotes · Reddit
Getting interviews
How to get more interviews
A mental model for getting interviews: fewer, better-aimed applications, and referrals over the apply button.
39K views69 upvotes · Reddit
Interview guides by company
The loop, company by companyFrontier AI labs
AI infrastructure and products
Scale AI
Training data and evaluation for AI labs.
Perplexity
The AI answer engine and Comet browser.
Glean
Enterprise AI search and agents.
Abridge
AI clinical notes for US health systems.
Cognition
Makers of Devin and Windsurf.
Synthesia
AI video and avatars, from London.
Databricks
The data and AI lakehouse company.
Firecrawl
Web data API for AI agents.
Surge AI
Human data and RL environments for AI labs.
Nebius
Amsterdam AI cloud built on NVIDIA GPUs.
CoreWeave
The AI cloud behind many of the big labs.
Together AI
AI cloud for open-source model inference.
Crusoe
AI data centers and cloud, from power to GPUs.
Harvey
Legal AI for law firms and in-house teams.
Cursor
The AI code editor, a SpaceX company since August 2026.
ElevenLabs
AI voice and audio, $500M ARR, remote across 50 countries.
Sierra
Enterprise AI agents, founded by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor.
Snowflake
Data cloud company, engineering in Menlo Park, Bellevue and Europe.
Mercor
AI-run hiring for expert and engineering contract work.
G42
Abu Dhabi AI group behind Jais and Khazna.
Product and design tools
Figma
Collaborative design tool, public since July 2025.
Notion
The connected workspace for docs and AI agents.
Datadog
Monitoring and observability platform.
Linear
Product development tool, remote-first.
Canva
Online design platform based in Sydney.
Clio
Legal practice software, hiring in Canada and Europe.
Xero
Accounting software for small businesses.
Coveo
AI search and recommendations for enterprises.
Hard tech and defense
Tesla
EV, energy and robotics maker.
Palantir
Data platforms for governments and industry.
Anduril
Autonomous defence systems, Lattice to drones.
Wayve
Embodied AI for self-driving, from London.
Helsing
European defence AI company, Munich.
Saronic
Autonomous naval vessels, Austin.
ASML
Chip lithography machine maker, Veldhoven.
Arm
Cambridge chip designer, listed on Nasdaq.
Cerebras
Wafer-scale AI chips and an inference cloud.
TSMC
The world's largest chip foundry, now in Phoenix.
BAE Systems
Britain's largest defence company.
Airbus
Europe's aircraft maker, headquartered in Toulouse.
Boeing
The US planemaker, from the 737 to satellites.
Thales
French defence, aerospace and cyber group.
Safran
French aircraft engine, aerospace and defence group.
Saab
Swedish defence and aerospace group.
NVIDIA
GPUs, CUDA, AI systems and networking.
SpaceX
Rockets, Starship and Starlink.
Finance
Goldman Sachs
Investment bank and large technology employer.
JPMorgan Chase
Largest US bank, hiring engineers in volume.
Visa
Card network with large engineering hubs worldwide.
Optiver
Amsterdam market maker founded in 1986.
Stripe
Payments infrastructure, valued at $159 billion.
Coinbase
The listed US crypto exchange, remote-first.
Binance
The largest crypto exchange, hiring remotely across Asia.
Circle
Issuer of USDC, listed on the NYSE.
Kraken
The remote-first crypto exchange, IPO-bound.
TRM Labs
Blockchain intelligence against financial crime.
Ramp
Corporate cards and spend management.
Brex
Corporate cards, now part of Capital One.
Perk
Travel and spend platform, formerly TravelPerk.
Revolut
The $75 billion fintech, now a UK bank.
Wise
Money transfer at scale, now on Nasdaq.
Robinhood
Trading app for stocks, options and crypto.
Block
Square, Cash App and Afterpay.
HSBC
Global bank with large technology centres in Asia.
Standard Chartered
International bank hiring tech graduates across Asia and Europe.
UBS
Swiss bank, now including Credit Suisse.
Adyen
Amsterdam payments platform for global merchants.
IMC Trading
Amsterdam market maker founded in 1989.
Flow Traders
Amsterdam ETF market maker founded in 2004.
Deloitte
The largest professional services network.
PwC
Big Four audit, tax and consulting network.
bunq
Amsterdam neobank with 22 million users.
Checkout.com
London card payments infrastructure company.
Monzo
UK digital bank, hiring in London, Cardiff, Barcelona.
N26
Berlin mobile bank.
Trade Republic
Berlin savings and investing bank.
Capital One
US bank that runs on its own software.
Morgan Stanley
The Technology Analyst video interview.
Wealthsimple
Investing, banking and tax for Canadians.
Tabby
Gulf buy now, pay later fintech.
Remote-first companies
Shopify
Commerce platform, digital by design since 2020.
PostHog
Product analytics, remote, with a public handbook.
GitLab
All-remote DevSecOps platform, 65+ countries.
GitHub
Microsoft-owned code platform, hiring remotely.
Zapier
Fully remote automation company.
Atlassian
Jira and Confluence, Team Anywhere.
Canonical
The company behind Ubuntu, fully remote.
Crossover
Remote hiring platform run by ESW Capital.
Bending Spoons
Milan company behind Evernote, Vimeo and AOL.
Elastic
The Elasticsearch company, distributed by design.
Toptal
Freelance talent network that screens its members.
1Password
Password manager and access security, remote-first.
DuckDuckGo
Privacy search and browser, fully remote.
Linear
Product development tool, remote-first.
Big tech engineering hubs
Netflix
Streaming, with its only overseas engineering hub in Warsaw.
Google Zurich
Google's biggest engineering office in Europe.
Meta London
Meta's largest engineering hub outside the US.
Samsung R&D India
Samsung's research institutes in Bengaluru, Noida and Delhi.
Google
Search, Cloud, YouTube, Android and Gemini.
Amazon
Retail, AWS, devices and logistics.
Microsoft
Azure, Windows, Office, GitHub and Xbox.
Meta
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta AI.
Uber
Rides, delivery and freight, hiring by level.
DoorDash
Local delivery marketplace, now with Wolt.
European tech companies
Booking.com
Amsterdam travel platform, part of Booking Holdings.
Zalando
Berlin online fashion platform, 62 million customers.
Delivery Hero
Berlin food delivery group behind foodpanda and Glovo.
Vinted
Europe's second-hand marketplace, built in Vilnius.
Allegro
Poland's largest online marketplace.
Criteo
Paris-born ad tech company, moving its legal home to the US.
Dataiku
Paris-founded platform for building and governing AI.
Capgemini
French IT services firm hiring freshers in India.
IKEA
IKEA retail's digital and tech organisation.
Picnic
Dutch app-only supermarket with electric vans.
JetBrains
Maker of IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm and Kotlin.
Celonis
Munich process mining company.
SAP
Walldorf enterprise software company.
Personio
Munich HR and payroll software company.
UBS
Swiss bank, now including Credit Suisse.
Adyen
Amsterdam payments platform for global merchants.
IMC Trading
Amsterdam market maker founded in 1989.
Flow Traders
Amsterdam ETF market maker founded in 2004.
Helsing
European defence AI company, Munich.
Supercell
Mobile game studio behind Clash of Clans, Helsinki.
ASML
Chip lithography machine maker, Veldhoven.
Arm
Cambridge chip designer, listed on Nasdaq.
BAE Systems
Britain's largest defence company.
Airbus
Europe's aircraft maker, headquartered in Toulouse.
Thales
French defence, aerospace and cyber group.
Safran
French aircraft engine, aerospace and defence group.
Saab
Swedish defence and aerospace group.
Trade Republic
Berlin savings and investing bank.
Game studios
CD Projekt Red
Warsaw studio behind The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077.
Supercell
Mobile game studio behind Clash of Clans, Helsinki.
Voodoo
Paris mobile games publisher, owner of BeReal.
Roblox
User-built 3D games platform, San Mateo.
Unity
Game engine and mobile ads company.
King
Candy Crush maker, Stockholm, part of Microsoft.
EA DICE
Battlefield and the Frostbite engine, Stockholm.
Paradox Interactive
Grand strategy games, Stockholm.
East Asia tech
Mercari
Japan's marketplace app, hiring engineers worldwide.
Rakuten
Japan's internet group, run in English since 2010.
Coupang
Korea's largest online retailer, listed in New York.
Samsung R&D India
Samsung's research institutes in Bengaluru, Noida and Delhi.
TSMC
The world's largest chip foundry, now in Phoenix.
Southeast Asia tech
India tech
Middle East tech
Stockholm tech
Spotify
Audio streaming, built in Stockholm.
Lovable
AI app builder, Stockholm's fastest-growing startup.
Legora
Legal AI, founded in Stockholm.
Tandem Health
AI medical scribe, built in Stockholm.
King
Candy Crush maker, Stockholm, part of Microsoft.
Klarna
Buy now pay later, Stockholm's largest private tech employer.
Ericsson
5G networks, 13,000 people in Sweden, headquartered in Kista.
Google Stockholm
Google's Nordic engineering hub, the best-paid loop in the city.
EA DICE
Battlefield and the Frostbite engine, Stockholm.
Paradox Interactive
Grand strategy games, Stockholm.
Health tech
Interview guides by role
42 briefings · 11 tracksSoftware Engineering
Software Engineer roles · internship → IC6
Engineering Management
Manager and leadership roles · M1 → VP
Data & MLNEW
Data Science, ML, and Data Engineering · IC3 → IC4
AI research and LLM engineeringNEW
Research Engineer, Research Scientist, AI Engineer · IC3 → IC5
MobileNEW
iOS and Android engineering · IC3 → IC4
InfrastructureNEW
SRE and Platform Engineering · IC3 → IC4
GamesNEW
Game Client, Game Backend, Game Design and Production · IC3 → IC4 · written for Stockholm
QualityNEW
QA and Test Automation · IC3
Product
Product and technical program manager roles · IC2 → VP
SolutionsNEW
Forward Deployed, Sales Engineering and Solutions Architecture · IC3 → IC4
Guides & playbooks
67 guides · every stage of the searchBefore you applyHow to get more interviewsA hiring manager's six-step model for landing interviews without burning out.New grad, no interviews or callbacks?Why new grads get filtered before anyone reads them, and how to fix it.Am I a good fit for this job?Fit is a spectrum. How to read a posting and stop self-rejecting.Find and close your experience gapsFind what you're missing and close what counts.ATS + resume guideTailor your resume to clear screening and a recruiter's read.Best resume format for 2026The ATS-friendly layout that gets read, plus norms by country.Do cover letters still matter?Yes, for a shrinking set of cases. When, and why.Remote-friendly tech companiesWho actually hires remotely, with each company's policy.Leadership interview prepWhat Director, VP and Head of Eng loops actually test.
Mock interviews & AI roundsHow to practise with a mock interviewWhat a good mock looks like, and how to read the debrief.AI mock interview vs. a human coachThe honest trade-off, and why you'd use both.Best mock interview tools (2026)AI, human and peer tools compared fairly.How to pass an AI interviewWhat an AI interviewer scores, and how to answer it.AI screening interview questionsThe questions AI screeners ask, and how to answer them.Take-home assignmentsWhat companies publish about time, pay, AI and grading, and how long to spend.One-way video interview (HireVue)No interviewer, a timer, one take. How to deliver.Google Hiring AssessmentGoogle's work-style questionnaire, and how to answer it honestly.AI system design interviewThe prompts reported at Anthropic, Cohere, Perplexity, Harvey and Scale AI: serving, RAG, evals, agents.Mobile system design interviewWhich companies run it for iOS and Android, the prompts candidates report, and why people fail.Member of Technical Staff (MTS)The flat title at xAI, Cohere, Perplexity and Abridge: read the track, level and pay.Tesla AI interviewA recorded 15-minute AI voice screen. What it asks, and how to rehearse it.Your interviewer assumes your answers are generatedA new survey of 3,128 hiring professionals, and what raises doubt in an interview now.
Answer the common questionsAll the common questions, answeredThe ones almost every interview asks, each with a guide and a free recorder to practise it.“Tell me about yourself”The frame for the whole interview, in about 90 seconds.“What's your greatest weakness?”A test of self-awareness.“What's your greatest achievement?”Judgment, your contribution, and the impact you had.“Why do you want to work here?”Specific beats generic, tied to your own goals.“What are your salary expectations?”A researched range backed by market data.“Why are you leaving your job?”A judgment test. Forward-looking, brief, never bitter.“What are you looking for in your next role?”A retention check. Two specifics, and say which matters most.“I see a gap on your resume”The gap isn't the problem. The length of the answer is.“Why should we hire you?”Your closing argument. Their top needs, your proof, then stop.“Tell me about a time you failed”Ownership and learning, not a clean record.“Tell me about a conflict”Mature disagreement, and never a villain.“How do you handle stress?”A real method, proved with a short example.“Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”Direction this role can actually house.“Are you interviewing for other jobs?”A timing question. Name the stage, and say why this one leads.“Do you have any questions for me?”Still part of the interview. The sharp ones, and the costly ones.Interview questions from a job descriptionThe questions specific to your role come from the posting.
Prepare, and avoid the trapsWhat changed in tech interviews in 2026The shifts worth knowing before any loop this year.2026 Tech Interview ReportRounds, what each loop tests, time-to-offer and comp across 42 roles.Stockholm Tech Interview Report 2026Google, Spotify, Klarna, King, Ericsson, DICE, Paradox, Lovable and Legora: the gate, the rounds, the weeks, the pay.How to prepare for interview questionsPredict the loop, build reusable stories, practise out loud.Researching a company before an interviewThe four things to know, and where to look.What gets you the offerWhat the candidates who get hired do differently.What hiring managers actually look forThe profile of the candidates who get hired, in seven traits.Why strong candidates get rejectedThe real reasons offers slip away. Rarely being underqualified.How a hiring manager screens resumesTen resumes, thirty minutes, five things he actually looked at.AI engineer interview questionsSeventeen questions in seven clusters, with the follow-up probes and answer frameworks.Why you didn't get the jobSeven reasons from the person who decided, at both stages of the funnel.Why engineering managers fail interviewsSix anti-patterns from someone who runs the EM loop.Platform engineering manager interview questionsNine questions, and what the hiring manager is thinking while you answer each one.How to become an engineering managerPosition for the IC-to-EM move before the title.How to become an engineering directorThree promotions in six years: what worked, what didn't.How to build a high-performing engineering teamOne team, four steps, from the director who ran it. The story every EM loop asks for.Is it cheating to use AI in interviews?The line between preparing with AI and being fed answers live.
While you waitWhy your application is taking so longTen open roles per recruiter, three weeks to publish a posting. What the delay is, from inside.Ghosted after an interviewWhy it happens, told from both chairs, and when to follow up.Follow-up email after an interviewUsually don't. The one case where it changed my mind.
After the offerHow to negotiate a job offerThe first offer is the floor. Anchor, use leverage, keep goodwill.Big tech RSU offerThe price that sets your units, vesting by year, refreshers and the tax at vest.Startup equity offerWhat to ask the recruiter, and the sums: ownership, dilution, strike price, exit value.Software engineer salary in StockholmBy level, by employer, after tax, and the number to say on the recruiter call.How to prep your referencesPick the right three and brief them properly.
Tech interviews by country
Pay, security and visas · 30 marketsEurope
Oceania
Middle East
Questions, answered
FAQWhich guide should I read first?
Start with the guide that matches your CURRENT level rather than the role you're applying to. Companies judge you against the bar one step above where you are now: a Senior applying for Staff is judged on Senior signals plus the scope gap to Staff. Read your current-level guide first to anchor your baseline; then read the target-level guide to see what they'll probe for the step-up.
How long should I prep before an onsite?
Depends on your role and how active you've been. Rough guide: SWE / PM 4–6 weeks if rusty, 2 weeks if you're already practising. Senior+ engineers need 6–8 weeks because system design + STAR-story drilling both take time. Staff and Director roles need 8–12 weeks, the highest-leverage prep there is a written 90-day plan plus a strategic POV on the company, both of which take weeks to think through and rehearse.
What if my interview process is different from what's listed?
Most variation is at the edges. Major tech companies (FAANG, scale-ups, mid-size SaaS) follow processes within 1–2 rounds of what each guide describes. Smaller startups often run fewer rounds (3–4) but the bar at each round is similar; less-tech-mature companies sometimes skip system design or behavioural rounds entirely. Ask the recruiter at the screen, they'll tell you what's coming.
What is the STAR method?
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, a structure for behavioural interview answers that keeps your story concrete and outcome-driven. Lead with the situation in 1–2 sentences, name the specific task you owned, walk through your action, close with a measurable result. Each role guide tags behavioural questions explicitly and shows how STAR applies to that level's questions.
How does the free scan differ from these guides?
These guides cover the general bar at each level. The free scan reads your specific job description and returns a personalised report, predicted questions for that exact role + company, a pay benchmark matched to the role, experience-gap analysis (with your resume), an ATS resume check, and a PDF emailed to keep. Use the guides for context; use the free scan to prep for a real role you've applied to.
Now do it for your posting
These guides give you the bar.
Calibrd gets you ready to clear it.
Paste your actual job and Calibrd makes it real: exactly what that company asks, where your resume is thin, and a full round you rehearse out loud.
Free to start · No card · Encrypted at rest, never used to train AI, remove anytime