What to Wear to a Palantir Interview
Wear business casual. For a Palantir interview that means dark jeans or chinos with a collared shirt or a plain blouse, and clean closed shoes.
You do not need a suit for an engineering role. You do not need a tie.
Palantir's own offices are casual. Employees wear t-shirts, hoodies and sneakers on a normal day. An interview sits one level above that, and one level is enough.
| Round | Format | What to wear |
|---|---|---|
| Recruiter call | Phone or video | Plain shirt or top if the camera is on |
| Technical screen | Video, shared editor | Plain collared shirt, plain top or sweater |
| Onsite loop | In an office, 3 to 5 rounds | Dark jeans or chinos, collared shirt or blouse |
| Customer-facing role loop | Onsite | Same, plus a blazer if you own one |
| Final or hiring manager round | Video or onsite | Same as the round before it |
Video Rounds
Most screens happen on video. Only your top half is on camera, so that is the only part that matters.
Pick a solid colour. Plain navy, grey, white or a muted shade all read cleanly. Tight stripes and small checks shimmer on a webcam and pull the eye away.
Check the light before the call. A window behind you turns you into a silhouette, so sit facing the light instead.
Keep the background plain. A blank wall is better than a busy shelf.
Onsite Rounds
An onsite loop runs three to five rounds and can take most of a day. Comfort matters more than it seems at hour four.
Dark jeans or chinos with a collared shirt is the standard choice. A blazer or a simple cardigan adds a little formality and can come off if the room is warm.
Wear shoes you can walk in. You will move between rooms and may be taken to lunch.
If the Role Faces Customers
Two Palantir tracks spend real time inside customer buildings. A forward deployed engineer writes code on site with the customer. A deployment strategist solves the customer's business problem and is not a coding role.
Those customers include defense agencies, government departments, hospitals and large manufacturers. Interviewers for these roles are picturing you in a customer's meeting room.
Dress a small step up for those loops. Trousers rather than jeans, a collared shirt or blouse, and a blazer if you own one. A full suit is still not required.
What to Skip
- Shorts, flip flops, gym clothes and anything torn.
- Slogans, political messages and logos of other tech companies.
- Strong scent. Interview rooms are small and shared.
- Brand new shoes. A long onsite is the wrong day to break them in.
- Anything you keep adjusting. If you fidget with a collar, choose something else.
Does Clothing Affect the Decision?
No. Palantir decides on your technical rounds, your design round and your customer-facing rounds.
Clothing only matters when it creates a question. Gym clothes in a customer-facing interview invite a fair doubt about client sites. Anything neat removes that doubt and lets the interviewer listen to your answers.
So give the outfit ten minutes and give the rounds the rest of your week.
What to Bring
- A photo ID for the building desk.
- A notebook and pen. Some candidates prefer paper for design questions.
- A water bottle. A full loop is long.
- Your laptop charger if you were told to bring your own machine.
- Two or three questions for the team, written down.
How to Prepare
- Lay the outfit out the night before. One less decision on the morning of the loop.
- Do a two-minute camera test. Same seat, same light, same background as the real call.
- Learn the shape of the loop. Read what the Palantir interview process looks like round by round before you plan the day.
- Have the motivation answer ready. Almost every loop asks why you want to work at Palantir, and a thin answer costs far more than a shirt.
- Practise the coding rounds. Grokking the Coding Interview covers the question patterns that repeat most.
- Prepare the design round. Start with what to expect in the Palantir system design interview, then work through Grokking the System Design Interview.
- Know the wait. Read how long it takes to hear back after a Palantir interview so the silence afterwards does not worry you.
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