Did the GitHub Staff SWE loop in October. Sharing what I actually remember.
Recruiter screen was 30 minutes, pretty standard. She was good, asked about my background honestly and gave me real signal about what the team needed. Not the usual recital.
Phone technical screen: they gave me a problem involving parsing a git-like log structure. Nothing insane algorithmically, but the framing was clearly GitHub-flavored. That was refreshing. I got to talk about edge cases rather than just grinding through optimal complexity.
Virtual on-site (4 panels): Coding: two problems, both practical. One involved API design for a webhook system. The interviewer told me to think out loud and asked follow-up questions mid-solution. Felt collaborative. System design: design a simplified version of GitHub Actions. I was not expecting that level of domain specificity. Lean into it, it's a good sign. Behavioral: 3 questions, values-heavy. They really do care about influence without authority and how you've pushed back on decisions you disagreed with. Cross-functional leadership panel: this was for a staff-level hiring bar calibration. Very conversational. Less about what I built, more about how I shaped what got built and by whom.
Process took 5 weeks total. Offer was competitive but not top of band. The RSU vesting schedule was Microsoft-style (quarterly after 1-year cliff), worth asking about.
Biggest surprise: the interviewers were all clearly current GitHub employees who used GitHub daily. Questions felt like they came from real problems, not a question bank.