The OpenAI interview process: what OpenAI says and what candidates report
Quick answer: OpenAI publishes its own interview guide. It describes five steps: application and résumé review (typically about a week), introductory calls with a recruiter or hiring manager, one or more skills-based assessments whose format varies by team, final interviews of typically 4–6 hours with 4–6 people over 1–2 days, and a decision, usually within a week of the finals. OpenAI calls this an example and says your experience may differ. Everything else you read online, including this page's section on candidate reports, is secondhand.
What OpenAI says about its interview process
The interview guide on openai.com is the only official description we found. We read it on 27 October 2026 through the Internet Archive copy of 9 October 2026, because openai.com refused automated requests when we checked. In order, it describes:
- Application and résumé review. It typically takes the recruiting team one week to review a résumé and email back.
- Introductory calls. If there is a potential fit, a recruiting coordinator schedules a conversation with the hiring manager or a recruiter. OpenAI says to be ready to discuss your work and academic experience, motivations and goals, and to read its recent updates, especially those related to the team you are interviewing for.
- Skills-based assessment. Within a week you hear whether you have moved on. Formats vary by team and "may include: pair coding interviews, take-home projects, technical tests". Some roles get more than one assessment. The recruiting team provides preparation material, and you hear within a week after the assessment.
- Final interviews. Virtual by default, or onsite at the San Francisco office if you choose. Typically 4–6 hours with 4–6 people over 1–2 days, focused on your area of expertise and "designed to stretch you beyond your comfort zone".
- Decision. Expect to hear within one week of the final interviews. Your recruiter may ask for references at this stage.
The guide frames the whole list as "an example of what you can expect" and adds that OpenAI strives for consistency so that all applicants have the same chance to show their strengths.
How long does the OpenAI interview process take?
OpenAI does not publish a total. What it does publish is a set of checkpoints that each typically take about a week: résumé review, the decision to move you to an assessment, the result of the assessment, and the decision after the final interviews. The time you take to schedule calls, finish a take-home or fit 4–6 hours of finals into your calendar comes on top of that, and roles with more than one assessment have more steps. We have not found a reliable source for a typical end-to-end duration, so we do not give one.
What OpenAI says it looks for
The guide is more specific about evaluation than many company pages:
- Not credentials. OpenAI says it is "not credential-driven" and wants to understand your background and what you can contribute.
- Experts and high potential. It wants people who are already experts and people who are not yet specialised but have shown they can ramp up quickly in a new domain and produce results.
- Collaboration and communication. It lists collaboration, effective communication, openness to feedback and alignment with its mission and values, and says interviews are designed to understand how you approach problems, make decisions and communicate your reasoning.
- For engineering interviews: "well-designed solutions to the challenge, high-quality code, optimal performance, and good test coverage."
The careers page (read through the Internet Archive copy of 26 October 2026) lists the values behind this: humanity first, act with humility, feel the AGI and ship joy, plus operating principles such as find a way, creativity over control, update quickly and intense focus. If you are asked why OpenAI, these and the OpenAI Charter are what the interviewer is likely to have in mind.
Can you use AI tools in OpenAI interviews?
It depends on the interview, and OpenAI says so directly: some formats intentionally allow AI and other tools, while others are designed to assess your independent problem-solving without them. The guide says what is allowed will be explained in your interview preparation materials, and that if you are unsure you should ask your recruiter before the interview. Treat each round separately; permission in a take-home does not carry over to a live pair coding session.
What candidates report
OpenAI's description is deliberately general, so candidates fill the gap on forums. We could open four threads on Blind, an anonymous forum where posts are self-reported and unverified. They are a handful of anecdotes across different roles and years, quoted here as such:
- Applied Engineering, infrastructure (July 2024). A candidate wrote that the process for several infrastructure SWE roles consisted of a phone screen round with two technical interviews, then an onsite of four interviews, two of them technical. A reply from someone who had just been through it described the coding problems as fairly easy, LeetCode medium level, the system design as nothing special, and a deep dive on something complex they had worked on as the most challenging part.
- Research engineer (November 2024). A candidate wrote that their recruiter mentioned two technical assessment rounds before the onsite: general coding first, then ML-specific coding.
- Onsite (October 2025). A candidate asked about a cross-functional interview about working with a product manager. One reply said the hardest part was the coding, with not enough time to finish the follow-ups.
- Intro call (January 2026). In a thread where the poster called the online interview guide "pretty bland", replies said the intro call is a recruiter conversation about your background, why OpenAI and the work that interests you.
These reports fit the official outline (an early screen, technical assessments, a multi-interview final round) without adding anything we would call established. Glassdoor and Reddit pages did not open for us when we checked, so nothing here comes from them.
What is not public
- An official list of interview questions, for any role.
- Pass rates, scoring rubrics or level calibration.
- Role-by-role loops: which teams use take-homes, how many assessments a given role has, or what the 4–6 final interviews cover for it.
- A typical total duration, as explained above.
Pages that state these things as fact are extrapolating from candidate reports. Your recruiter and your preparation materials are the authority for your own process.
How to prepare for the OpenAI interview
OpenAI's own recommended reading is the Charter, its research publications and blog posts that interest you, and, for technical reading, the Deep Learning Book and Spinning Up in Deep RL. Beyond that, what the guide says it evaluates translates into a practical plan:
- Code as if it were going to production. The engineering criteria include high-quality code and good test coverage, not only a working answer. Practise writing tests during a timed problem; our guide to LeetCode in a real interview covers how real rounds differ from solo practice.
- Practise pair coding out loud. Pair coding is the first format the guide lists. Talking through decisions while you type is a separate skill; see the live coding guide and the pair programming interview guide.
- Prepare a project deep dive. One complex project you can explain in depth: the problem, the options you rejected, what broke, what you would change. Candidates single this out as the hard part.
- Prepare system design if your role has it. Our system design interview framework gives a structure for the conversation.
- Prepare the collaboration stories. Communication, feedback and cross-functional work are explicitly evaluated. Use the behavioral questions guide to structure them.
- Ask about tools before each round. As above, what is allowed differs by format.
For a general plan that is not specific to OpenAI, start with the technical interview preparation guide.
Where Interview Copilot fits
We make Interview Copilot, a desktop app that listens to a call and suggests answers on your screen, so this is about our own product. OpenAI says some of its interviews are designed to assess your problem-solving without AI tools, and in those rounds it has no place. Where a round allows your own tools, it can help with the spoken part of the conversation. If the preparation materials do not make the rules clear, ask the recruiter before the round, as OpenAI itself suggests.
Sources
- OpenAI — Interview guide (read via the Internet Archive copy of 9 October 2026)
- OpenAI — Careers: values and operating principles (read via the Internet Archive copy of 26 October 2026)
- OpenAI — Charter
- Blind — OpenAI applied engineering SWE interview process? (candidate reports, July 2024)
- Blind — OpenAI interview, research engineer (candidate reports, November 2024)
- Blind — OpenAI onsite (candidate reports, October 2025)
- Blind — OpenAI intro call/interview process? (candidate reports, January 2026)
Pages were read on 27 October 2026. Blind threads are anonymous self-reports and are quoted as such. OpenAI's process differs by team and changes over time, so your recruiter and your preparation materials override anything here.
FAQ
What are the stages of the OpenAI interview process?
OpenAI's interview guide describes application and résumé review, introductory calls with a recruiter or hiring manager, one or more skills-based assessments that vary by team, final interviews and a decision. OpenAI presents this as an example and says individual experiences may differ.
How long does the OpenAI interview process take?
OpenAI does not publish a total duration. Its guide says résumé review typically takes about a week, that you hear within a week whether you move to the assessment and again after it, and that you should expect a decision within a week of the final interviews. Scheduling and take-home time come on top.
How many final interviews does OpenAI have?
According to OpenAI's interview guide, candidates typically go through 4–6 hours of final interviews with 4–6 people over 1–2 days. They are virtual by default, and you can choose to interview onsite at the San Francisco office.
Does OpenAI use LeetCode-style coding interviews?
OpenAI says assessment formats vary by team and may include pair coding interviews, take-home projects and technical tests, and that engineering interviews look for well-designed solutions, high-quality code, optimal performance and good test coverage. Some candidates on Blind describe LeetCode medium-level problems; those are self-reports, not an official description.
Can I use AI tools in an OpenAI interview?
Only where that round allows it. OpenAI says some interview formats intentionally allow AI and other tools while others assess independent problem-solving without them, that your preparation materials explain what is allowed, and that you should ask your recruiter if unsure.
What does OpenAI look for in candidates?
Its interview guide says it is not credential-driven and looks for experts as well as high-potential people who ramp up quickly in a new domain, with collaboration, effective communication, openness to feedback and alignment with its mission and values.