What Is the Freshworks Interview Process Like? (Round by Round)

Candidates report four to six rounds at Freshworks. The first step is an online coding round, and reports name HackerRank as the platform. Reported lengths run from about 75 minutes to about 90 minutes, with three or four problems.

Two or three technical interviews follow, each between about 40 minutes and 75 minutes. Experienced candidates also report a design round and a final HR conversation. Reported time from application to decision commonly runs two to four weeks, and some candidates report about five weeks. The exact rounds vary by role and by level.

Quick Overview

Stage 1: Recruiter or Telephonic Screen

This is a short call about your background, your current work, and the role, with technical questions inside it as well. One report describes a telephonic round with screen sharing, where the interviewer asked two coding questions and a Java question on garbage collection. Prepare your reason for applying before this call: see how to answer why Freshworks.

Stage 2: Online Coding Round

Candidates report an online coding round on HackerRank. One on-campus report describes 75 minutes and four problems. Another describes 90 minutes and four problems.

Named problems include checking whether a tree is a binary search tree, detecting a loop in a linked list, stock buy and sell, and searching a row and column sorted matrix. Passing every test case matters here, so read the constraints before you write code. For what these screens usually contain, see what an online technical assessment is.

Stage 3: Technical Interview 1

Reported at about 40 to 45 minutes. The questions combine coding with core computer science. Reported topics include SQL joins and table design, pointers in C, and string problems such as palindrome checks.

Candidates also report a number puzzle and questions about their final year project or their current work. One report describes a front-end version of this round, with questions on JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

Stage 4: Technical Interview 2

Reported at about 45 minutes in one report and about 75 minutes in another. This round covers data structures and algorithms in more detail. Reported problems include reversing a linked list, the maximum sum square submatrix, building a binary tree from inorder and postorder traversals, the smallest missing positive number, and N-queens.

Operating system and database questions appear as well, including thrashing, memory management, atomicity, and consistency. Senior candidates report questions on multi-threading.

Stage 5: The Design Round

Experienced candidates report a dedicated design round. Reported questions include designing Instagram, with detailed follow-up questions about the database and caching, plus designing a URL shortener and designing a parking lot. Senior candidates report a separate low level design round, with problems such as an employee roster management system and a file management system.

Lead candidates also report a bar raiser round, where a senior interviewer reviews past projects, their design, and the database decisions inside them. More detail is in the Freshworks system design interview.

Stage 6: HR or Managerial Round

Reported questions include "Tell me about yourself", why you chose your college, whether other companies rejected you, and why Freshworks. One report describes a cross-functional round with a senior manager instead. That conversation covered the candidate's most interesting work and how the architecture could be improved. Location preference and notice period are normal topics here.

How the Campus Path Differs

On-campus reports describe an extra step between the online round and the interviews. One report describes a written test of 40 minutes with two problems, one moderate and one hard, covering object-oriented programming and linked lists. Another on-campus report describes a take-home assignment instead: build a file based key value data store.

One report also records how few candidates pass each stage. Of 300 students, 40 cleared the online round, 20 cleared the written test, 14 cleared the first interview, and five reached the HR round.

Timeline and Decision

Candidates report gaps between rounds, and one on-campus report describes a three week wait after the online test. After the final round, reports describe an HR call within two or three days. One report describes the written offer about two weeks after that call. Full detail is in how long it takes to hear back.

Questions to Ask Them

Reports describe most rounds ending with time for your questions. Ask which product you would join, because Freshdesk, Freshservice, and Freshsales are different systems with different problems. Ask how Freddy AI features are built and measured inside that product. Ask how the team divides time between new features and customer reported defects.

How to Prepare

• Drill the reported problem types. Grokking the Coding Interview covers the patterns behind the linked list, matrix, and array problems above.
• Prepare the design round properly. Grokking the System Design Interview covers caching, indexing, and the other building blocks these questions use.
• Practice class design out loud. Write the classes for a parking lot and for a shift roster on paper, then explain each responsibility aloud.
• Use the product before you interview. Reports describe a strong focus on product knowledge, so sign up for a free trial and form an opinion.
• Write the motivation answer once. Keep the same answer in the screen and in the final round.