AppFolio Senior Software Engineer interview questions

I recently completed a 75-minute screening that included: 2–3 behavioral questions 5 rapid-fire system-design questions a 45-minute coding round and a short window for me to ask questions The technical questions were fairly straightforward, and I felt confident in my responses — clear, structured, and technically sound. While I haven’t received feedback yet, my best guess is that my rejection may have stemmed from the Q&A portion. I asked a few candid questions about the product vision, team culture, and growth opportunities — the kind of questions I believe any thoughtful engineer should ask when evaluating a team. Some of these seemed to catch the interviewers off guard, which might have left a mixed impression. Still, the engineers were pleasant, and the overall experience was positive. The only downside is the lack of feedback — something that always makes it difficult to learn what truly went wrong. Sometimes, teams might already have an internal candidate or be interviewing for formality’s sake — though that may not be the case here, the absence of closure leaves room for guesswork.

The interview process was the most demanding I’ve encountered to date. It included four distinct stages—a non-technical screening, a technical discussion, a thought exercise, a system design session, and a total of three one-hour pair programming sessions. I invested a significant amount of time and effort, including rearranging my schedule to accommodate multiple interviews. Unfortunately, after completing all of these rounds, I was left without meaningful follow-up. The eventual response I received felt vague and unsubstantiated, which was particularly disappointing given the depth and rigor of the process. Being left in the dark after such a substantial commitment reflected poorly on the overall candidate experience.