Twitter is a renowned social media platform and a tech giant. The company provides its users (from all over the world) with a valuable opportunity for self-expression. Twitter is extremely popular in today’s social media scene, and naturally, a lot of maintenance, improvement, and upkeep is needed to keep the platform going.
Twitter is a great place to work because of its work culture, employee perks, and numerous career opportunities. Though there are millions of eligible candidates hoping to secure a job with the popular platform, these jobs can be hard to land.
Getting a job at Twitter will solidify your career path and bring a lot of opportunities to your doorstep. Being a Tier-1 tech company, Twitter looks for the best applicants in the industry while recruiting. As a result, the Twitter interview questions and process may seem like a hard nut to crack.
So, if you are preparing for a tech interview, check out our technical interview checklist, interview questions page, and salary negotiation ebook to get interview-ready!
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Now, let’s dive deeper to get a clear and complete idea of the Twitter interview process and most commonly asked questions in the interview. Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:
- How to Apply for a Software Engineering Job at Twitter
- Stages of the Twitter Tech Interview Process
- Most Commonly-Asked Twitter Interview Questions
- How to Prepare for the Twitter Interview Questions
- FAQs on Twitter Tech Interview
How to Apply for a Software Engineering Job at Twitter
Like any other tech giant, Twitter considers the recruitment process an integral part of its corporate culture. You need to be a value-adding asset to the company to get hired. Getting shortlisted for the interview and receiving the call is the foremost step.
So, it is essential to present your skills and experience in a concise yet streamlined way, aligned to the company's goals of profitability and growth. While looking and applying for a job at Twitter, these should be your first steps:
Your Resume
Build a clean yet crisp resume that highlights your strengths in terms of skills, leadership, and experiences concerning the job description.
For example, if you are a software engineer, mention relevant projects you have previously worked on. On the other hand, if you are a software developer, mention relevant applications or software you have developed. Similarly, if you are a coding engineer, mention your expertise in the desired programming languages.
Online Application
Go to Twitter’s careers page or renowned job portals like LinkedIn to search and apply for jobs. On LinkedIn, you can set your profile to “open to new opportunities.” This way, recruiters can reach out to you if your profile is suitable for a particular job role.
Stages of the Twitter Tech Interview Process
Twitter’s technical interview typically consists of these four steps:
Phone Screen
After your resume gets shortlisted for the specific job role, the phone screen will be the first round you go through. This round is quite casual because this is where the recruiters get to know you as a candidate for the first time.
Here, the recruiter will ask your reason for applying at Twitter, your previous experience regarding the particular job role, and your opinion on how much value you would be adding to the company.
For this round, it is mandatory to know about the history and vision of the company beforehand. Go through Twitter’s About Us, Company, and Values pages to get more information on the company.
Online Coding Test
For the second round, make sure you are well-versed in the programming languages required for the particular job role. Typically, this round consists of 2 questions. Since practice makes perfect, you can practice extensively beforehand to get the timing right during the technical interview.
Technical Phone Screen
In this step, there will be two technical interviews with senior engineers. This is where they evaluate your theoretical knowledge.
In-depth Onsite Interviews
The final step will typically be full of coding questions, theoretical questions, systems questions, and questions to evaluate your behavior and problem-solving skills.
Usually, the entire interview process at Twitter takes about 2 to 4 weeks on average.
A Compilation of the Most Commonly Asked Twitter Interview Questions
Here is a compilation of all the commonly asked technical interview questions revolving around the different aspects of the particular job role.
Twitter System Design Interview Questions
- Which coding language would you say you’re adept in?
- Define SAN and explain its uses.
- When is the right time to denormalize a database design?
- Explain the impact of continuous integration systems in the automated-build process.
- Explain how you would improve the news feed on Twitter.
Twitter Bootstrap Interview Questions
- Explain Bootstrap and its advantages.
- Discuss the key components of Bootstrap.
- Explain Bootstrap Container and how it works.
- What do you know about the default Bootstrap text settings?
- Explain the Bootstrap Grid System.
- What are the differences between Bootstrap 4 and Bootstrap 5?
- Explain the differences between Bootstrap 3 and Bootstrap 4.
- Define Button Group and the class for a basic Button Group.
- How would you use Bootstrap to make thumbnails?
- What are the two codes for displaying code in Bootstrap?
Twitter Coding Interview Questions
- Write any YAML parser.
- Print the Fibonacci series without using an array.
- How to find the lowest common ancestor of a Binary Tree?
- How to clone a graph and analyze the time and space complexity.
- Create a unique hash function for every single tweet on Twitter.
- Find whether a directed graph contains cycles or not. Create a function with Boolean return type for the same.
- Display pattern matching using patterns containing chars.
- What is the most optimized way to sort a k-sorted array?
- What do you know about C++’s problem with multiple inheritances?
- Solve N-Queens problem.
Twitter Behavioral Interview Questions
- Do you prefer to work alone, or are you a team player?
- What if you were asked to do a task but are not sure how to complete it?
- How to overcome the challenge of working with a difficult colleague on a team project?
- Tell me about your biggest strength.
- Describe your leadership skills.
How to Prepare for the Twitter Interview Questions
To get a job at Twitter, you will need to prove that you have the skills and expertise that the job requires. It takes commitment, professional skills, experience, and a lot of preparation to land the job. Here are some tips to help you prepare:
Apply Your Technical Skills Smartly
In the technical rounds, do not go after the syntax alone while designing the program. Instead, make sure you explain the logic behind the code in simple words.
Work on Other Skills
For every question the interviewer asks, your solution is not the only thing taken into account here. How you address and analyze the problem also plays a vital role in this regard.
Therefore, while tackling the Twitter interview questions, it would be best not to immediately jump into the technical details. Instead, visualize the problem and the related concept behind it first and then proceed accordingly.
In conclusion, possessing these skills and keeping these common questions in mind will significantly help you out in your interview prep.
And, of course, with Interview Kickstart, the process becomes easier! Join our Free Webinar to know more.
FAQs
1. What is the salary of an entry-level Twitter software engineer (SWE)?
An entry-level software engineer at Twitter can earn up to $191,000 per year (average annual salary).
2. What is the Twitter interview process like for software engineers?
The typical interview process for software engineers at Twitter consists of 4 main rounds — Phone Screen, Online Coding Test, Technical Phone Screen, and Onsite Interview. The entire process takes about 2 to 4 weeks to complete.
Are You Ready to Nail the Twitter Tech Interview?
Since its inception in 2014, Interview Kickstart has helped thousands of experienced engineers realize their true calling. We aim to help engineers get better acquainted with the intricacies of their chosen field and provide them with all the guidance they need to clear interviews with tech giants.
Knowing very well that clearing an interview requires much more than sound technical knowledge, we train you in a manner that helps you develop a winner's stride. IK is your golden ticket to land the job you deserve.
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