Twilio Interview Experience
I interned at Twilio in June and July of 2021, and I thought it would be helpful if I shared my interview and internship experience. So in this first article, I’ll talk about my interview experience. There’s also a corresponding video on my YouTube channel, so go watch that as well!
Round 1: Coding Test
The first round of shortlisting happened via a coding round, consisting of 2 questions to be completed in 60 minutes. The questions were fairly simple, and a lot of people were able to get all test cases, including bonus ones, running correctly.
Both questions were based on strings, and had been built around what Twilio actually operates with. For example, one question was related to phone numbers and their validation and categorization. It was meant to be done by verifying substrings in the numbers, and this is something that might be similar to what Twilio had to do at some point. I feel this is important to mention because it is something I really like, rather than the question being based on a fictional story completely unrelated to what the company does.
The instructions specifically mentioned that we were expected to write clean code, which meant good variable names, proper indentation and comments wherever necessary. I made sure to keep this in mind, and was still able to submit the test with around 20 minutes to spare.
If you’re appearing for the Twilio coding round, keep the following points in mind:
- Write clean (easily readable) code
- Get all test cases running, and submit the test as early as possible
I believe these two points might have been the criteria for the shortlisting after the coding round (there is also a chance that the shortlisting was done based on the resume I submitted).
Round 2: Coding Interview
The second round for me was the coding interview. The interview was conducted on a real-time code editor with my video on. The interviewer jumped right into the question, which was as follows:
Given a list in the following form:
LAX -> LHR
SFO -> LAX
LHR -> JFK
Write a program to print the path from the source to the destination
For the first part of the question, I was told that there would not be more than one flight into or out of an airport, which meant no branching, and I was also given that there would not be any cycles in the graph.
I didn’t know the exact implementation of a graph so I used maps to store each airport and the destination. I started in C++ but because of some issues with my imports, I could not get the code running (yes, the interviewer wanted me to actually run the code and not write pseudo code). I switched languages in the middle of the interview and got the code running in Java.
The next part of the question included multiple flights from a single airport. All I had to do was switch from a map<string, string> to a map<string, list<string>> and I was able to get the code running with some modifications.
The last part of the question included cycles in the graph, but I did not have time for this part.
Round 3: Hiring Manager Interview
The third and final round was the hiring manager interview. The interviewer started with asking me to introduce myself, and I mentioned that I made videos on programming languages. He asked my about what languages I knew and which ones I had made videos on. He was impressed by the fact that I was sharing knowledge with my classmates in college and my juniors.
The hiring manager interview is a process to determine if candidates embody the values that are appreciated at Twilio (we call it the Twilio Magic), which in turn determine if they would be a good fit in the company and the team. If you have an interview with a hiring manager at Twilio, be sure to read up on the Twilio Magic and demonstrate how you embody those values.
The interview consisted of a few HR questions- “Have you had a conflict with a teammate?”, “Have you ever missed a deadline, what did you do in that situation?” and finally a technical question based on how a queue can be implemented using 2 stacks.
After the interviews, I found out the same night that I had been hired for the summer internship at Twilio, and I was delighted! I had used Twilio Programmable Video before my interviews, and it was awesome that I got to be at a company that made a product that I loved. Summing up, both interviewers were super friendly, and I think it was a very smooth and comfortable interview experience. I really liked the fact that the interviews were both scheduled in advance and I did not have to sit for one interview and then wait anxiously to see if I had been shortlisted for the next one.
Hope you enjoyed reading. If you’re interviewing with Twilio, all the very best; do your best and you’ll be a Twilion soon!
