To succeed in the Seatgeek interview process, you must approach your preparation with a balance of technical rigor and product awareness. The company looks for engineers who are collaborative, highly communicative, and deeply interested in the live events space.

Candidates are evaluated across several core criteria during the interview loop:

Pragmatic Problem Solving – You must demonstrate the ability to write clean, maintainable, and production-ready code. Seatgeek prioritizes practical coding skills, such as API design, file parsing, and rate limiting, over obscure algorithmic tricks.

System Design & Trade-off Analysis – You need to show that you can design systems that handle high concurrency and scale. Be prepared to justify your architectural choices, discuss database selection, and explain how you mitigate single points of failure.

Product Empathy & Feel – You should have a strong understanding of Seatgeek's business model and user experience. Showing that you care about the end-user journey and can critique a web page or feature from both a technical and usability perspective is highly valued.

Cultural Alignment & Collaboration – The company places a heavy emphasis on its social and collaborative culture. Your interviewers will assess your self-awareness, how you handle feedback, your willingness to pair-program, and your overall communication style.

The interview process for a Software Engineer at Seatgeek is comprehensive and designed to evaluate both your technical capabilities and your alignment with the company’s collaborative culture. The entire loop typically takes between two to four weeks to complete, depending on scheduling and candidate availability.

The journey begins with an initial recruiter screen, followed by a technical assessment which may take the form of an online coding challenge (such as a CodeSignal assessment) or a take-home assignment. If you pass this initial stage, you will move on to a live technical screen conducted via video call and a collaborative coding environment. This screen focuses on practical coding and system integration problems.

The final stage is a rigorous virtual on-site loop consisting of multiple rounds. This loop is highly conversational and structured to give you a clear picture of what it is like to work at the company. You will meet with engineers, engineering managers, and product partners to discuss system design, product features, and your past experiences.

The interview process timeline shown above outlines the typical progression from the initial application to the final decision. Candidates should use this timeline to structure their preparation, ensuring they allocate sufficient time to practice coding fundamentals before the technical screen and system design concepts before the final round. While the overall flow remains consistent, the specific focus of the technical rounds may be tailored to align with the specific team or level you are interviewing for.

Pragmatic Coding

The coding rounds at Seatgeek are designed to simulate real-world development tasks. Rather than testing your ability to memorize complex academic algorithms, interviewers want to see how you write, test, and debug code that solves practical business problems.

Be ready to go over:

• String and Data Parsing – Reading, manipulating, and structuring raw data from external files or APIs.
• Resource Management – Designing components like rate limiters, caching layers, or request queues.
• Testing and Edge Cases – Writing clean code that gracefully handles invalid inputs, null values, and boundary conditions.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Implementing custom sorting algorithms for complex data structures or writing memory-efficient stream parsers.

Example scenarios:

• Implementing a rolling-window rate limiter class that tracks client requests and blocks those exceeding a specified threshold.
• Writing a parser that processes a stream of ticket transaction records and aggregates sales metrics by event category.
• Designing a utility function to merge overlapping ticket price ranges into a consolidated list of pricing tiers.

System Design & Architecture

The system design interviews evaluate your ability to architect scalable, resilient, and high-performing systems. At Seatgeek, this is especially critical due to the massive traffic spikes that occur when popular events go on sale.

Be ready to go over:

• High-Concurrency Architectures – Designing systems that can handle thousands of write requests per second during major ticket releases.
• Data Consistency & Locking – Preventing race conditions, such as double-booking a seat, using optimistic or pessimistic locking strategies.
• API Design – Creating intuitive, versioned, and efficient RESTful or gRPC APIs for external and internal clients.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Designing event-driven architectures using message brokers like Kafka or RabbitMQ to decouple microservices.

Example scenarios:

• Designing the backend architecture for a real-time ticket inventory system that supports seat selection and temporary reservation holds.
• Walking through the system design of a past project, detailing how you identified bottlenecks and optimized database queries.
• Architecting a global notification system that alerts users when tickets for their favorite artists become available.

Product Feel & API Design

This unique evaluation area focuses on your ability to connect engineering decisions to user-facing product outcomes. Seatgeek wants engineers who think about the "why" behind the features they build.

Be ready to go over:

• UI/UX Technical Trade-offs – Understanding how frontend rendering choices impact page load times and user engagement.
• API Payload Optimization – Structuring data payloads to minimize latency and improve the performance of mobile and web applications.
• Feature Critique – Analyzing existing web pages or application screens to identify technical and design improvements.

Example scenarios:

• Reviewing a mock-up of a venue seat-map page and explaining how you would optimize the delivery of SVG coordinate data to the client.
• Discussing the trade-offs between server-side rendering and client-side rendering for a high-traffic event details page.
• Designing an API contract for a ticket transfer feature, ensuring security, ease of use, and clear error handling.

Core Values & Behavioral

The behavioral rounds are conversational and focus on how you work with others, handle challenges, and align with Seatgeek's collaborative culture.

Be ready to go over:

• Collaboration & Mentorship – How you contribute to a positive, supportive, and inclusive engineering culture.
• Handling Failure – Your ability to take ownership of mistakes, learn from them, and implement preventive measures.
• Prioritization & Ambiguity – How you manage competing priorities and deliver value in a fast-paced environment.

Example scenarios:

• Describing a situation where you had to debug a critical production issue under tight time constraints.
• Explaining how you handled a project that was falling behind schedule due to shifting requirements.
• Sharing an example of how you successfully onboarded a new team member or mentored a peer.

A Software Engineer at Seatgeek is responsible for delivering high-quality software that powers the ticketing marketplace. This involves working across the entire development lifecycle, from initial system design to deployment and monitoring.

• Write Clean, Scalable Code – Develop robust, well-tested, and maintainable services and applications using languages like Python, Go, C#, or JavaScript.
• Design and Maintain APIs – Create and optimize internal and external APIs that enable seamless communication between services, mobile apps, and third-party partners.
• Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams – Partner closely with Product Managers, Designers, Data Scientists, and other engineering teams to define product requirements and deliver impactful features.
• Optimize System Performance – Identify bottlenecks in database queries, caching strategies, and application logic to ensure the platform remains responsive during peak traffic events.
• Participate in Code Reviews and Mentorship – Conduct thoughtful code reviews, share technical knowledge, and help maintain high engineering standards across the team.
• Support Production Systems – Participate in on-call rotations and contribute to monitoring, alerting, and post-mortem analyses to continuously improve system reliability.

To be competitive for a Software Engineer role at Seatgeek, candidates must demonstrate a strong foundation in software engineering principles, system design, and collaborative development.

• Must-have technical skills – Strong proficiency in at least one major programming language (e.g., Python, Go, C#, Java, or JavaScript/TypeScript), experience designing and integrating with RESTful APIs, and a solid understanding of relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL).
• Must-have practical experience – Proven experience building and maintaining web applications or distributed systems, writing comprehensive unit and integration tests, and working with version control systems like Git.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS), containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), message queuing systems (e.g., Kafka, RabbitMQ), and frontend frameworks like React.
• Soft skills – Excellent verbal and written communication, a highly collaborative mindset, strong problem-solving abilities, and a proactive approach to learning and mentorship.

Q: How technical are the coding interviews at Seatgeek?

A: The coding interviews are highly practical. While you should be comfortable with fundamental data structures and algorithms (such as arrays, hash maps, and sliding windows), you will not be asked to solve obscure, highly theoretical brainteasers. The focus is on writing clean, readable, and well-structured code that solves real-world engineering problems.

Q: What is the company culture like for engineers?

A: Seatgeek has a highly collaborative, social, and supportive engineering culture. Teams emphasize open communication, continuous learning, and mutual support. The interview process itself is designed to be conversational, reflecting the day-to-day working environment where pairing and collaborative problem-solving are common.

Q: How should I prepare for the System Design interview?

A: Focus on understanding high-concurrency architectures, API design, and data consistency models. Be prepared to talk in detail about a past project you built, explaining the architectural decisions, trade-offs, and scaling challenges you faced. Practice explaining your reasoning clearly, as some interviewers may dive deep into your design choices.

Q: Does Seatgeek offer remote or hybrid work options?

A: Seatgeek supports a hybrid work environment with offices in major hubs like New York, NY. Depending on the team and role, remote opportunities may be available within specific regions. Be sure to discuss your location preferences and expectations with your recruiter during the initial call.

• Know the Product – Take the time to explore the Seatgeek website and mobile app before your interviews. Understand their core business model, key features (such as Deal Score and interactive seat maps), and how they differentiate themselves from competitors. Having a genuine interest in the live events space will make a strong impression.

• Prepare to Discuss Failures – Seatgeek values self-awareness and continuous improvement. When asked about past mistakes or technical failures, be honest and objective. Focus on what you learned from the experience, how you resolved the issue, and the concrete steps you took to prevent it from happening again.

• Communicate Your Thoughts Clearly – Throughout all technical rounds, treat the interviewer as a collaborator. Talk through your thought process, explain the trade-offs you are considering, and ask clarifying questions before writing code or designing systems. This demonstrates how you would work as a member of the team.

• Keep Your System Designs Pragmatic – When designing systems, start with a simple, robust architecture that solves the core problem. Only introduce complexity (such as microservices, caching layers, or message queues) when you can clearly justify why it is necessary based on scale, performance, or reliability requirements.

Preparing for a Software Engineer interview at Seatgeek requires a balanced approach that highlights both your technical expertise and your collaborative spirit. By focusing on pragmatic coding, scalable system design, and product empathy, you can demonstrate that you have the skills and mindset needed to succeed in this high-impact role.

Remember that the interview loop is as much about finding a mutual fit as it is about evaluating your skills. Approach each conversation with curiosity, ask thoughtful questions, and showcase your passion for building great products that connect fans to live events.

The compensation data shown above highlights the competitive salary ranges and equity structures offered to engineers at Seatgeek. When evaluating an offer, consider the entire compensation package, including base salary, equity, and benefits, in relation to your experience level and location. For more detailed insights, interview reviews, and preparation resources, you can explore additional community-contributed data on Dataford to help you navigate your career journey.