Asanas mission is to “empower teams to do great things together. It’s easy to see why Asana is one of the best places for software engineers to work. They value things like teamwork and clear, direct communication.
Asana’s software engineer interview process is known to focus on specific ideas like object-oriented programming. It also includes a full two-hour coding exercise to see how qualified you are for the job.
Learn more about the Asana software engineer interview and how to do well in it in this guide. Download it now to get that Asana software engineer job.
A typical Asana software engineer interview goes through four steps: a recruiter screen, a technical phone screen, an on-site interview, and a reference check.
The recruiter’s phone screen is pretty simple; they mostly ask questions about your resume and how well you fit the role of software engineer. The recruiter may ask about your interests, your past experiences, and why you want to work at Asana. During this call, the recruiter can answer any questions you have about the interview process.
You don’t need to prepare much for this one. Look over your resume and talk from it. Also, learn more about Asana, like what their company mission is.
A software engineer at Asana will call you and ask you a technical question for an hour. This is the technical phone interview. The technical phone screen questions are usually a bit less in-depth, but they can be about any of the types of questions we’ll talk about next. Usually, this phone screen will involve an object-oriented design problem, which Asana emphasizes more than other companies.
The last thing Asana does before making an offer is to get two references: one from a manager and one from a peer.
Asanas software engineering interviews generally break down into the following three categories. The Exponent community says that Asana focuses a lot on object-oriented design problems, so make sure to talk about these in your interview preparation.
Asana’s coding interview is a two-hour coding test where they will ask you to answer coding questions in the language and editor of your choice. The focus of these interviews is on how you solve the problems, not on grammar mistakes or how much you know about the subject (you can use online resources during the exercises).
How you think about the problem is very important here, and you need to explain your steps more than you would in a normal coding assignment or exercise. Asana wants to see that you can carefully think through the problem and show that you know a lot about engineering. At the end of the interview, an engineer will sit down with you to talk through your solutions. This is a great chance to talk about not only what you coded but also the mistakes and trade-offs you thought about as you worked on the problem. Self-awareness of your own codes weaknesses and strengths is a big plus to the interviewer.
The best way to prepare for these interviews is to practice coding problems. You can start with our database of recently asked software engineer interview questions.
Asana has become one of the most sought-after places to work in Silicon Valley thanks to its visual task management software and focus on having teams work together. As an early-stage tech company worth more than $4 billion that is growing quickly, Asana is picky about who it hires. You want to work for the company that made one of the most popular productivity apps. How can you show that you have what it takes?
We’ll cover everything you need to know to ace your Asana interview, from how to look your best to how to answer common technical and behavioral questions. Follow these tips to show off your skills, fit in with Asana’s values, and start your dream job at this game-changing SaaS company.
What to Expect in the Asana Interview Process
Asana’s interview process typically consists of:
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Initial Phone Screen A 30 minute call focused on your resume, experience, and interests. It acts as a screening to confirm alignment with the role.
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Technical Video Interview A 1 hour discussion of your programming skills and knowledge via video chat Coding challenges test your expertise
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On-site Interview If successful so far you’ll be invited to Asana’s SF headquarters for a full day of 5-6 in-person interviews on communication leadership, problem solving, and culture fit.
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Final Interview: The last step is a conversation with your potential manager or a senior team member.
The process is rigorous but designed to set you up for success in Asana’s transparent, collaborative environment. Thorough preparation is key.
How to Stand Out in Your Asana Interview
Highlight Relevant Experience
Asana looks for candidates with applicable work experience. Have clear examples that showcase your technical expertise and collaboration abilities.
For engineering roles, discuss projects where you developed solutions using relevant languages like Python, React, GraphQL, and Typescript.
Demonstrate You’re a Culture Fit
Asana prioritizes transparency, innovation, and work-life balance. Give examples of how you embody these values. Share your proudest accomplishments that relied on transparency and innovation.
Ask Thoughtful Questions
Ask smart questions that show your understanding of Asana’s mission, products, workflow, and culture. Here are some options:
- How do you see Asana evolving in the next 5 years?
- What opportunities are there for professional development and growth?
- How would you describe the collaboration within engineering teams?
- What do you think sets Asana’s products and culture apart?
Solve Coding Challenges
Ace the technical interview by practicing coding challenges in Python, JavaScript, Golang and other relevant languages on platforms like LeetCode. Be ready to demonstrate your solution and discuss optimizations.
Have Stories Ready
Prepare stories highlighting your problem solving, leadership, communication, and initiative. Quantify your impact and accomplishments.
Understand the Products
Get familiar with Asana’s portfolio so you can have an intelligent discussion. Be able to articulate how you could contribute.
Common Asana Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
Let’s look at examples of the types of questions you might encounter:
Tell me about yourself.
Focus on your tech experience, skills, and passions. Keep it concise and relevant to the role.
Sample Answer: “I’m a full-stack engineer with 5 years experience developing web apps using React and Node.js. I’m passionate about leveraging technology to enhance productivity and collaboration. My proudest career achievement was leading a team that re-architected our platform, reducing latency by 40%. I’m excited by the chance to work on products like Asana that enable people to work together effortlessly and accomplish their most ambitious goals.”
Why do you want to work for Asana?
Show you’ve researched the company and are aligned with their vision.
“I’m drawn to Asana’s commitment to building transparency and trust in the workplace. Enabling teams to effectively coordinate and manage projects resonates with my passion for developing software that empowers people. I also admire Asana’s leadership principles like ‘default to trust’ and their focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.”
How would you improve the Asana product?
Demonstrate you understand the product and have innovative ideas to take it to the next level. Focus on enhancements that improve collaboration and workflow.
“One area I think could be expanded is integrating Asana even more seamlessly into other workplace software like Slack, email, and calendars. My idea would be a feature that auto-syncs new tasks based on conversations in these tools, saving users time on manually entering updates.”
Describe a time you overcame a technical challenge.
Share a specific example highlighting your problem solving process, technical skills, and resilience. Quantify the results.
“When rebuilding our backend in Node.js, we faced immense difficulties with our authentication system under heavy load. After extensive troubleshooting, I discovered race conditions were causing token refresh failures at scale. My solution was to re-architect the auth flow using lock files to synchronize the processes. This optimization allowed us to painlessly handle 10x more traffic.”
How do you balance delivering features quickly while maintaining quality?
Show you understand the tradeoffs and have strategies to balance speed and quality.
“I always ensure proper test coverage for critical path functionality first. For lower risk changes, I prioritize getting early feedback from users over perfecting it up front. I also advocate for maintaining technical debt backlogs and allocating resources to address these issues. Clear communication with product and design is key to aligning on what warrants extra QA time vs. getting an MVP released faster.”
Master the Asana Interview to Launch Your Dream Career
With a collaborative culture and compelling mission, Asana is an ideal environment for driven software engineers. Set yourself up for success by understanding the interview process, highlighting your relevant skills, and practicing responses to common technical and behavioral questions. Showcase your passion for developing solutions that enable people to work smarter and accomplish more. With preparation and confidence, you’ll be primed to pass the Asana interview with flying colors!
Technical Design: Simple and Robust
When it comes to system design interviews, can you explain to the interviewer how you use clarity and simplicity to solve hard problems?
Communication: Articulate your mental model
Software engineering isnt just about coding – its also about effectively communicating your ideas and concepts. Are you able to do this effectively and translate the technical concepts into human-speak?.
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