Prepping for a Citadel loop right now and the existing data points I can find are mostly 2023 and 2024. The process seems to have shifted a bit over the past year. Hoping people who've gone through recently (2025 or 2026) will share what they saw.
Specifically looking for: Role and rough level (SWE mid, SWE senior, quant, data, etc.) Total number of rounds and what each round covered Types of coding questions (was it more algorithmic, more practical/production-code-style?) Whether behavioral was a dedicated round or woven in throughout Timeline from first contact to offer or rejection Anything that surprised you
I'll start with what I've gathered from secondhand sources so far: the onsite seems to be five rounds for most tech roles. Coding, system design, and behavioral are consistently mentioned. A few people mention a domain-specific or team-specific round that varies. The phone screen before the onsite is technical, not just a fit call.
If you're willing to share any data points, even rough ones, it helps everyone who's prepping.
5 replies
frontend_fran
Went through the SWE mid loop in March 2026. Five onsite rounds: two coding (both medium-to-hard algorithmic, one graph problem and one dynamic programming variant), one system design (design a real-time event processing system with idempotency requirements), one behavioral, one technical deep dive on past projects. Timeline was about six weeks from recruiter reach-out to final decision.
numbers_only
Senior SWE, interviewed early 2026. Same structure as above with the addition of a 30-minute chat with a hiring manager at the end. That round felt more like a culture fit and leveling calibration. No additional technical questions. Timeline six to seven weeks total.
returner_ren
Really helpful, thank you. The manager round at the end is new compared to what I was seeing in older threads. Good to know.
analyst_ana
Not SWE but interviewed for a data analyst role in Q1 2026. Very different structure: SQL heavy, one Python problem, a take-home case study on a financial dataset (had 48 hours), and a final presentation round. No traditional coding interview at all. Posting in case it's useful for non-SWE roles.
pm_priya
PM loop late 2025: product sense round, analytical round with some light SQL, behavioral, and a case study. No coding. The case study was about a trading product, so brushing up on what Citadel actually builds mattered more than I expected.