Glassdoor users rated their interview experience at Optro as 25% positive with a difficulty rating score of 3.25 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty). Candidates interviewing for Senior Software Engineer and Software Developer rated their interviews as the hardest, whereas interviews for Staff Software Engineer and Senior Software Engineer roles were rated as the easiest.
The hiring process at Optro takes an average of 26 days when considering 4 user submitted interviews across all job titles. Candidates applying for Staff Software Engineer had the quickest hiring process (on average 21 days), whereas Senior Software Engineer roles had the slowest hiring process (on average 30 days).
Do not waste your time with this interview process. I am writing this review as a favor to other experienced engineers so they can make an informed decision before committing several hours to Optro’s hiring loop.
The Optro interview process consisted of four separate one-hour rounds covering engineering behavior, system design, product partnership, and technical problem-solving. All four interviews were scheduled together, and none appeared to function as an elimination round.
From a technical perspective, I performed at an expert level throughout the process. I successfully addressed everything presented to me, produced fully working and optimized solutions, clearly explained my reasoning and complexity analysis, and validated the output. My coding performance was at a top-tier LeetCode-style interview level, and the interviewer explicitly confirmed that my solution met the expected standard.
In the system design round, I provided a complete and scalable architecture while thoroughly discussing reliability, performance, data flow, bottlenecks, trade-offs, and future growth. The interviewer specifically praised the scalability considerations in my design. I also answered the behavioral and product partnership questions thoroughly and did not receive any indication that my performance was below expectations.
My primary concern is the structure and apparent lack of transparency in the process. Asking candidates to complete four non-eliminating interviews requires a significant investment of time. Despite demonstrating expert-level technical performance, successfully handling every challenge, and receiving positive verbal feedback, I did not receive meaningful feedback explaining the final decision.
The experience gave me the impression that the company was not fully aligned on what it was looking for or was not genuinely prepared to hire for the position. It felt as though candidate time was being used without an efficient or clearly calibrated selection process.
A staged interview process, with actual progression decisions between rounds, would be far more transparent and respectful. Regardless of the company’s intent, running a lengthy process like this can backfire and damage its reputation among experienced engineers.
Strong candidates are evaluating the company just as carefully as the company evaluates them. Based on my experience, I would advise others to clarify whether the position is actively funded, what the elimination stages are, and how final decisions are made before agreeing to the full interview loop.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I was asked to solve a data structures and algorithms problem and explain the optimized approach, complexity, and implementation details.
I applied online. I interviewed at Optro (New York, NY) in May 2026
Interview
The interviewers were friendly, responsive, and professional throughout the process. My main concern was the interview structure. I did not meet the hiring manager until the final round, after completing several interviews and performing well in them.
During the final conversation, it became clear that the hiring manager had concerns about my lack of recent backend experience. While I understand that specific experience requirements are important, it would have been more efficient to have the hiring manager interview earlier in the process. This could have helped determine fit sooner and saved time for both the candidate and the company.
Overall, the interviewers were great, but the sequencing of the interview process could be improved.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Question about System Design, Data Structure, Behavioral questions
Recruiter was great, hiring manager ignored all of my credentials and experience for no other reason than prejudice against my appearance. Answered all of the questions flawlessly except one question that wouldn't even be applicable to the role I was being hired for and they used that as an excuse as to why I wasn't a good fit.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you explain the NIST AI RMF to me since I know nothing about it.