Top 25
Prep plan
Updated weekly · Last refresh Aug 30

Instacart Research Engineer Interview Questions

The questions to prepare for a Instacart Research Engineer interview. Questions from real interview reports rank first. Updated weekly.

25questions
~4htotal time
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1
CodingStart here. 4 questions · ~35 min
Shortest Path in a GraphMedium
Practice

Find the minimum-cost path between two nodes in a weighted graph using Dijkstra's algorithm.

QueueSearchingGraphsInstacart
Sorting Algorithm From ScratchMedium

Tests algorithm knowledge and ability to implement and reason about complexity.

RecursionArraysSortingInstacart
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2
Machine Learning3 questions · ~26 min
Supervised vs Unsupervised LearningEasy

Explain how supervised and unsupervised learning differ, and ground the distinction in a practical ML example.

Unsupervised LearningFeature EngineeringBias-Variance TradeoffInstacart
Handling Missing Values in MLEasy

Explain practical strategies for handling missing values in a supervised learning workflow, from diagnosis to modeling and validation.

Cross-ValidationFeature EngineeringRegularizationInstacart
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3
System Design4 questions · ~35 min
Deploy a Personalized Ranking ModelMedium

Design a production deployment path for a personalized ranking model, with serving, feature consistency, drift handling, and experiment driven rollout.

InfrastructureFeature DriftModel ServingInstacart
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4
Pipelines4 questions · ~35 min
Data Profiling in ETL PipelinesEasy

Discuss practical data profiling techniques used to understand source quality before and during ETL development.

Data ModelingQualityInstacart
Real-Time Dashboard Pipeline DesignHard

Approach for building near-real-time dashboard pipelines with streaming, orchestration, and data quality controls.

Stream ProcessingSchedulingDependenciesInstacart
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5
Model Evaluation3 questions · ~26 min
Investigate Engagement DropHard

Tests debugging, analytics, and hypothesis-driven investigation for user behavior changes at Instacart.

Causal InferenceThreshold TuningA/B TestingInstacart
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6
Behavioral & Leadership7 questions · ~61 min
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The finish line: interview-readyComplete all 25 questions to finish this plan.