8
Questions
3–6 weeks
Process Length
Hard
Difficulty
Airbnb is known for its design-driven engineering culture and strong emphasis on belonging. Their interviews uniquely include a 'Cross-Functional' round where you collaborate with non-engineers. Airbnb values empathy, creativity, and the ability to build products that people love.
Q1: Design a search system that filters listings by location, price, dates, and amenities.
Q2: Implement a function to find available dates for a listing given a set of existing bookings.
Q3: Build a simple recommendation system for travel destinations based on user preferences.
Q1: Design Airbnb's search and booking system at scale.
Q2: Design a review and rating system for hosts and guests.
Q1: You're working with a designer who wants a feature that's technically very expensive to build. How do you handle it?
Q2: Tell me about a time you championed the user experience in a technical decision.
Q3: What does 'belonging' mean to you, and how have you created it in your work?
Airbnb includes a unique 'Cross-Functional' interview where you work with a product manager or designer on a product problem. This evaluates your ability to collaborate across disciplines, communicate technical trade-offs to non-engineers, and think about user impact — not just technical implementation.
Airbnb announced a 'Live and Work Anywhere' policy, allowing employees to work remotely from anywhere within their country of employment. They also offer the ability to work from 170+ countries for up to 90 days per year. This is one of the most flexible remote policies in tech.
Airbnb's technical difficulty is comparable to FAANG, but the evaluation criteria are different. Airbnb places more weight on user empathy, design thinking, and cross-functional collaboration. The cross-functional round is unique and requires preparation that goes beyond typical coding interview prep.