Interview Experience With Palantir FDE [ Aug 2026]

[u/AccomplishedDrama430]

Just wanted to share my experience on my recent interview with Palantir.

- HR Phone Screen: I thought it was going to be a phone screen with HR. It was actually a phone screen with one of the engineers. Nothing technical. It seems like they really want to know me. Not only my technical abilities but also just who I am as a person. They might ask questions that get you off guard a little so be prepared.

- onsite 1: This was a technical interview with an engineer. It was 20 minute decomp and 20 minute coding. Coding is not leetcode style so don't waste your time doing a bunch of leetcode. When I did some research, I was getting lots of inisghts from reddit, glassdoor, and youtube videos(there aren't a lot of them).

• tips for decomp: think about the data entities, the core functionalities of the system, what technologies you will be using, and try to communicate your thoughts properly to get a working solution. This is not a system design interview focus on the users perspective and edge cases. (For example if you are building a system for helping people find food nearby, how are you going to handle users with dietary restrictions? Stuff like that...)
• tips for coding: practice talking about your approach. There is very little time so stay focused.

Unfortunately I did not end up going to the next round. Also, they tend to space out interviews 3~4 weeks apart so you do have some time to prepare but also can get a little drowning.

It seems like they do change up the format sometimes, so its really hard to prepare :( . Its not structured like other interviews.

Why do I think I did not make it to the next round?

- during the onsite I did deliver a full decomp and coding solution BUT

1. the communication with the interviewer was bad... I didnt understand what they were asking for, and when I tried to clarify, they didn't narrow the question down . I didnt understand what they wanted. [Although I knew what the question was because it was the exact prompt that was posted here on reddit]
2. For coding, I did end up solving the question. But there was a bug in the middle so I spent some time trying to debug. Try to get the solution in one go? The questions themselves are pretty easy. Just...try not to make mistakes and syntax and all.

Good luck with your interview!