October 1, 2016
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
I had a call with a recruiter, who then set up a technical phone screen.
Next, I went on-site for three interviews:
- One purely technical.
- One design question.
- One combination of behavioral and technical.
I then had a final round interview with the head of the DC teams, which was half behavioral (why Palantir?) and half technical.
Typical design systems questions, and typical coding questions (that can likely be found in Cracking the Coding Interview).
The following metrics were computed from 16 interview experiences for the Palantir Forward Deployed Software Engineer role in Washington, District of Columbia.
0%
Pass Rate
Palantir's interview process for their Forward Deployed Software Engineer roles in Washington, District of Columbia is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Positive56%
Neutral25%
Negative19%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Palantir's Forward Deployed Software Engineer interview process in Washington, District of Columbia.
4.0
Interesting Problems, Stressful Times
Forward Deployed Software Engineer • Current Employee
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
November 25, 2025
Pros: FDSE solves lots of interesting problems.
Cons: Can be a bit stressful at times.
3.0
Software Engineers - pay attention!
Forward Deployed Software Engineer • Former Employee
September 19, 2016
Pros: Some (but not all) of the work the company does is incredibly exciting and impactful to real-world problems. Your co-workers will be smart, hard-working, and motivated. There's a very small number of companies in the DC area that offer catered food 3 times a day and have a speakeasy. The perks are real, and while they shouldn't be a deciding factor, they're definitely nice.
Cons: I was hired as a "Forward Deployed SOFTWARE Engineer". During the interview process, I asked what the difference was between this and a normal software engineering position, and was told "there's basically no difference". That response was untrue. I was further misled at least twice during the interview process, and one of my interviewers apologized for lying to me during interviews after we both had left the company. Any type of forward deployed position at Palantir bears very little resemblance to a normal "software engineering" position. Some people like the differences and others don't. Forward deployed engineering involves mostly deploying other people's code of varying quality and trying to shoehorn it into a place to solve a problem, then struggling desperately to keep it running. Also, trying to keep other people's earlier shoehorned solutions running. As of my departure in summer 2016, the DC office still has no real SE positions, though it does list them as openings. Be very cautious applying for one of these positions. I recommend asking every single person you talk to the following questions: * If hired, what PRODUCT will I be working on? (They will probably try not to answer - you can interpret that response however you like) * How many products are developed in this office, and where are they used? How big are the development teams? * How many product managers are in the office? * What does the development/release cycle look like for the product I will be working on? * Will I be working on a client site? OR What are the travel requirements for this position? Basically, try to ask very SE-specific questions about the job you're applying for. Be critical when analyzing the responses. But seriously, if you want to do software engineering, do yourself a favor and don't go to work at Palantir in DC. London, New York, and Palo Alto all have supported and stable engineering teams as of summer 2016. The company also suffers from systemic poor leadership, which creates a political, distrusting environment that said leadership refuses to believe exists. This isn't necessarily a dealbreaker though, just something to be aware of. I ranked culture & values low, because while Palantir has a great cultural manifesto, it's almost 100% not reflective of conditions inside the company. Palantir has a culture of disrespecting customers, which made me uncomfortable. Finally, there's definitely a subculture of people expecting employees to be in the office a lot. I think even people who are on site all the time suffer from a public perception that they're not "spending enough time in the office".
Work that I look forward to every day
November 5, 2014
Pros: The people are great, friendly, and very intelligent. Interesting work that can have a real impact. Awesome travel opportunities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C., London, Sydney, and the UAE, plus more. The schedule is up to you. Come in and leave whenever, as long as the work is getting done.
Cons: There is a fair amount of technical grunt work to be done, and if you're not careful, you'll end up on boring projects. You can avoid this by proving yourself valuable in other areas. It's hard to stand out amongst peers when everyone is so talented. There's no clear path to advancement internally. They're working on this. Work/life balance varies across teams. Some people are overworked (not me...).
- 4.0Interesting Problems, Stressful TimesForward Deployed Software Engineer • Current EmployeeWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesNovember 25, 2025Pros: FDSE solves lots of interesting problems.Cons: Can be a bit stressful at times.
- 3.0Software Engineers - pay attention!Forward Deployed Software Engineer • Former EmployeeWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesSeptember 19, 2016Pros: Some (but not all) of the work the company does is incredibly exciting and impactful to real-world problems. Your co-workers will be smart, hard-working, and motivated. There's a very small number of companies in the DC area that offer catered food 3 times a day and have a speakeasy. The perks are real, and while they shouldn't be a deciding factor, they're definitely nice.Cons: I was hired as a "Forward Deployed SOFTWARE Engineer". During the interview process, I asked what the difference was between this and a normal software engineering position, and was told "there's basically no difference". That response was untrue. I was further misled at least twice during the interview process, and one of my interviewers apologized for lying to me during interviews after we both had left the company. Any type of forward deployed position at Palantir bears very little resemblance to a normal "software engineering" position. Some people like the differences and others don't. Forward deployed engineering involves mostly deploying other people's code of varying quality and trying to shoehorn it into a place to solve a problem, then struggling desperately to keep it running. Also, trying to keep other people's earlier shoehorned solutions running. As of my departure in summer 2016, the DC office still has no real SE positions, though it does list them as openings. Be very cautious applying for one of these positions. I recommend asking every single person you talk to the following questions: * If hired, what PRODUCT will I be working on? (They will probably try not to answer - you can interpret that response however you like) * How many products are developed in this office, and where are they used? How big are the development teams? * How many product managers are in the office? * What does the development/release cycle look like for the product I will be working on? * Will I be working on a client site? OR What are the travel requirements for this position? Basically, try to ask very SE-specific questions about the job you're applying for. Be critical when analyzing the responses. But seriously, if you want to do software engineering, do yourself a favor and don't go to work at Palantir in DC. London, New York, and Palo Alto all have supported and stable engineering teams as of summer 2016. The company also suffers from systemic poor leadership, which creates a political, distrusting environment that said leadership refuses to believe exists. This isn't necessarily a dealbreaker though, just something to be aware of. I ranked culture & values low, because while Palantir has a great cultural manifesto, it's almost 100% not reflective of conditions inside the company. Palantir has a culture of disrespecting customers, which made me uncomfortable. Finally, there's definitely a subculture of people expecting employees to be in the office a lot. I think even people who are on site all the time suffer from a public perception that they're not "spending enough time in the office".
- 4.0Work that I look forward to every dayForward Deployed Software Engineer • Current EmployeeWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesNovember 5, 2014Pros: The people are great, friendly, and very intelligent. Interesting work that can have a real impact. Awesome travel opportunities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C., London, Sydney, and the UAE, plus more. The schedule is up to you. Come in and leave whenever, as long as the work is getting done.Cons: There is a fair amount of technical grunt work to be done, and if you're not careful, you'll end up on boring projects. You can avoid this by proving yourself valuable in other areas. It's hard to stand out amongst peers when everyone is so talented. There's no clear path to advancement internally. They're working on this. Work/life balance varies across teams. Some people are overworked (not me...).
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