Palantir · Live Interview
Palantir's first-round live interview is where strong written applications become offer pipelines or go nowhere. Below: the real questions Palantir asks, what they're testing for, and how to practise live until it feels routine.
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The format
The first real stage after the application. Palantir states "Everyone starts with one or two phone interviews, and if we think there's a fit, we'll bring you onsite for a round of in-person interviews".
Phone or video for the early rounds, then an onsite loop that Palantir will run in person in London or virtually.
Engineers rather than recruiters for the technical rounds.
Interviewers probe weak answers. The candidates who get through handle follow-ups confidently, not just the headline question.
Duration. Phone interviews typically 20 to 45 minutes, per Palantir's own guidance.
Rounds at this stage. One or two phone interviews, then a loop. Palantir states the number and format are personalised to your skillset and the role, so it varies by candidate.
Format breakdown
Phone, video, and in-person each have distinct mechanics. The interviewer scoring rubric is the same, but the operational preparation is different.
Palantir's own advice: find a quiet place, make sure your phone works, use a headset that lets you talk comfortably while typing, ensure a stable connection if using HackerRank or Google Docs, have pen and paper ready, and research the company beforehand so you have questions.
The onsite is a sequence of back-to-back technical interviews. Palantir asks candidates to "be yourself", and the loop is built around its six published engineering competencies.
Question categories
Question types cycled through the interview. For each, a real example, what the firm is screening for, plus weak and strong answer signals.
Maps to two published competencies: Writing Good Code and Solving Technical Problems.
“Solve this problem, and talk me through it as you go.”
What they test. Reasoning under observation, not just the final answer.
Weak answer. Silence followed by a finished function.
Strong answer. Approach stated first, assumptions named, then code, then the cases you would test.
“Would you write this differently if someone else had to maintain it?”
What they test. Writing Good Code as an explicit competency.
Weak answer. Treating readability as a matter of taste.
Strong answer. Naming, structure and the specific change you would make, with the reason.
Analyzing the Efficiency of Code is published as its own competency.
“What is the complexity, and what happens at ten million records?”
What they test. Whether complexity is understood or recited.
Weak answer. A complexity class with no justification.
Strong answer. The class, the reasoning, the bottleneck that appears first at scale, and what you would change.
Navigating Open-Ended Questions is a competency, and the reason Forward Deployed candidates are pushed hardest here.
“How would you design a system to track containers across a global supply chain?”
What they test. Whether you ask before you build.
Weak answer. Jumping straight to a schema.
Strong answer. Clarifying who uses it and what decision it supports, then scoping deliberately and saying what you are leaving out.
“How do you feel about our defence and government work?”
What they test. Whether you have engaged with what the company actually does.
Weak answer. Evasion, or enthusiasm with no substance behind it.
Strong answer. A considered position. Palantir is direct about this work and respects a direct answer, including a qualified one.
“Software Engineer or Forward Deployed, and why?”
What they test. Whether you understand that they are different jobs.
Weak answer. "I would be happy with either."
Strong answer. A choice, with the trade-off named, including the 25 to 50 per cent travel on the Forward Deployed track.
The rubric
The interviewer is checking against a scorecard. Knowing the categories is half the battle.
Aggregation. Palantir publishes these six competencies as guides on its own careers site and states it has "structured our interview process around the engineering competencies that we value most". Treat them as the marking scheme.
Weighting vs other rounds. Not published. Palantir states the process is personalised by role and skillset rather than run to a fixed weighting.
How to practise
Conversational mocks that read your CV, ask Palantir-specific questions, push back when answers are weak, and produce a scored report.
Lazard · IB Analyst
Technical Interview · CV-aware
Interviewer
I see from your CV you completed Spring Week at Lazard. Walk me through a deal you observed during that placement.Interviewer
You mentioned trading comps. Walk me through how the peer set was selected, what criteria were used, and were there any borderline cases?Full report when you end
Why candidates fail
Specific failure patterns documented across past applicants. Most are avoidable with focused preparation.
Coding without narrating
The single most common failure. The interviewer cannot score reasoning they cannot hear.
Not asking clarifying questions
Open-ended questions are deliberately underspecified. Building on an unstated assumption is the trap.
Rewriting instead of reading
When handed existing code, candidates often start again. Working Inside Existing Systems is assessed precisely because the real job requires it.
Generic motivation
Palantir's products are specific and public. "I want to work on hard problems" applies to every employer.
Poor phone setup
Palantir explicitly flags dropped calls and noisy environments in its own guidance, which suggests it sees them often.
What works
Concrete moves drilled by candidates who clear the cut, drawn from applicant accounts and recruiter feedback.
Read the six competency guides
They are published at palantir.com/careers/getting-hired and describe exactly what is assessed. Very few candidates read them.
Ask what your loop contains
Because Palantir personalises the process, asking the recruiter what your rounds will be is both reasonable and unusually informative.
Pick a track and justify it
Naming Software Engineer or Forward Deployed, and saying why, signals you have understood the difference.
Have a real position on the mission
Engage with the defence and government work rather than working around it.
Prepare questions from the products
Gotham, Foundry, Apollo and AIP are all publicly documented. Questions drawn from them land very differently to questions about culture.
What gets you through
FAQ
One or two phone interviews, then an onsite loop. Palantir states the number and format are personalised to your skillset and the role you are applying for, so there is no single fixed answer, and asking your recruiter is worthwhile.
It can be either. Palantir says candidates may be invited "to come on-site in-person or virtually". For London roles the in-person loop runs at the London office.
Something grounded in the products or the work. Palantir explicitly recommends researching the company and watching a demo so that you can form questions, which tells you it notices when candidates have not.
The other rounds
Live interview is one of four rounds. Practise each one free on Intervyo.
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Intervyo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Palantir. Interview questions are sourced from past applicants and the firm's published guidance; verify on the firm's careers site. Sector: Graduate Scheme.
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