Airbnb's interview process starts with an application to a specific role on careers.airbnb.com. Airbnb aims to reply within 3 to 4 weeks. If your experience fits, a recruiter contacts you, and depending on the role you may complete a test, a video or an event before meeting several people on the team.
Everything below comes from Airbnb's own careers pages and job postings, linked as we go. Where Airbnb doesn't say something, we say so rather than guess.
The Airbnb hiring process at a glance
| Stage | What happens | What Airbnb says about it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Application | Submit an up-to-date resume or CV to a specific role on careers.airbnb.com. | Airbnb aims to respond within 3 to 4 weeks |
| 2. Recruiter contact | A recruiter reaches out if your experience fits the role. | For customer-supporting roles, this is a virtual interview |
| 3. Test, video or event (some roles) | Some roles add an assessment. Bilingual support roles may need a language fluency assessment. | Depends on the role; no format published |
| 4. Team interviews | You typically meet several people on the team. | Airbnb wants you to have time to ask questions; no round count published |
| 5. Offer | Airbnb makes an offer. | Customer-supporting offers are conditional on a background check |
What is the Airbnb interview process?
You apply, hear back from a recruiter if Airbnb wants to talk, complete any test the role requires, then interview with several people on the team. Airbnb's careers FAQ says interviews can include "a test, a video, or an event" depending on the role, and that it wants candidates to have time to ask their own questions.
Airbnb doesn't publish how many rounds to expect, how long each one lasts or how they differ between engineering, design and business roles. Ask your recruiter; they can tell you what your process looks like.
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What is the Airbnb hiring process for applications?
You apply online to one role at a time with your resume or CV. Airbnb's FAQ adds:
- You don't need to be a host or guest to apply, though Airbnb says it helps, and it suggests creating a profile and exploring the site.
- Work authorisation matters. Airbnb generally only considers applicants who are already legally able to work in the country of the role. It calls visa sponsorship rare and limited to specialised positions.
- Some US states are excluded. Airbnb can only hire where it has registered entities, and employees can't currently be located in Alaska, Mississippi or North Dakota. The list changes, so check it on Life at Airbnb.
- Many qualified people aren't interviewed. Airbnb says it reviews about 15,000 applications a month.
Students and career changers have separate routes. US summer internship applications open in December and close in February, for a 12-week programme from May to August (internship programmes). The Connect Engineering Apprenticeship takes applications in April and is aimed at people without a four-year computer science degree who learned to code through courses, community college or a bootcamp.
How long does Airbnb take to respond?
Airbnb aims to respond to every applicant within 3 to 4 weeks. The reply tells you whether it wants to talk, needs more information or doesn't see a fit right now. Airbnb says you're unlikely to get personalised feedback because of the volume of applications. It doesn't publish how long the full process takes from application to offer.
Does Airbnb have an assessment or test?
Some roles do. Airbnb's FAQ says interviews may include a test depending on the role, and its customer-supporting roles page says bilingual roles may require a language fluency assessment.
Airbnb doesn't publish what its tests contain, how long they take, how they're scored or which platform it uses. If your invitation names a coding platform, our guides to the HackerRank test and the Codility test explain how those platforms work in general. For engineering roles, the postings we checked ask for languages such as TypeScript or JavaScript plus a backend language like Java, Kotlin, Python or Go, so practise in the language you'd use on the job.
What happens in Airbnb interviews?
You typically meet several people on the team, and Airbnb wants you to have time to ask questions. For customer-supporting roles the order is published: a recruiter schedules a virtual interview, and successful candidates then meet the hiring team.
What the interviews cover isn't published, but Airbnb's pages are clear about what it values:
- Its four core values: Champion the Mission, Be a Host, Embrace the Adventure and Be a Cereal Entrepreneur (Life at Airbnb).
- Its founders' priorities: in a 2021 letter, the founders described a community "based on connection and belonging", a creatively led company, and responsibility to all stakeholders: guests, hosts, communities, employees and shareholders.
- For support roles: empathy, professionalism and strong communication, and a passion for outstanding service.
- For many current roles: using AI in the work. Several postings we checked mention AI, from applying LLMs to testing to building AI-enabled automation.
What happens after an Airbnb interview?
Airbnb doesn't publish a post-interview timeline. If you're selected, you get an offer. For customer-supporting roles, the offer is conditional on a successful background check, and training then runs 5 to 10 weeks depending on the role. Interns may be hired full-time afterwards, which Airbnb says depends on individual performance and business need.
If you need an accommodation at any stage, Airbnb asks you to tell your recruiter once you're contacted about a role.
Watch out for scams. Airbnb says its recruiters only write from @airbnb.com or @ext.airbnb.com addresses, and never ask for Social Security numbers, bank details, fees, money transfers or equipment purchases during interviews.
What are common Airbnb interview questions?
Airbnb doesn't publish its interview questions. The questions below are ones to prepare, built from what Airbnb says it values and what its postings ask for. Answer the "tell me about a time" questions in STAR form.
| Question | How to answer it for Airbnb |
|---|---|
| Why Airbnb? | Name something specific: a stay, a hosting experience, a product change or the founders' focus on belonging. Airbnb says being a host or guest helps, so use the product before you interview. |
| Tell me about a time you championed a mission bigger than your own task. | Maps to "Champion the Mission". Show a decision you made because of the people it served, even when it was harder. |
| Tell me about a time you went out of your way for a customer or colleague. | Maps to "Be a Host". Show care and follow-through, and what changed for the other person. |
| Describe a time you took on something unfamiliar or uncertain. | Maps to "Embrace the Adventure". Show how you learned fast and what you'd do differently. |
| Tell me about a time you built something with very few resources. | Maps to "Be a Cereal Entrepreneur". Show resourcefulness, the scrappy first version and the result. |
| How would you balance what guests want against what hosts want? | Airbnb's founders name both as stakeholders. Show you'd weigh both sides with data and talk to the people affected. |
| Tell me about a creative solution you came up with. | The founders call Airbnb creatively led. Show the problem, the unusual idea and how you tested it. |
| How have you used AI to improve your work? | Several postings ask for this. Give a concrete example with the before and after, and say where you checked the output yourself. |
| How do you stay productive and connected on a distributed team? | Airbnb's Live and Work Anywhere model calls for working "in a highly coordinated way". Show your habits for written updates and planning. |
| Tell me about a time you calmed down an upset customer. | For support roles. Show empathy first, then the fix, then how you kept your tone professional. |
| Describe a time you worked with a cross-functional team. | Many postings ask for cross-functional communication. Show how you aligned people with different goals. |
| What questions do you have for us? | Airbnb says it wants you to have time to ask questions. Prepare two or three about the team's priorities and how success is measured. |
For a wider bank to practise on, see our list of behavioural interview questions.
How to prepare for the Airbnb interview process
- Check you're eligible for the role's location before you apply, including the excluded US states and work authorisation.
- Use Airbnb as a guest or explore hosting, so you can talk about the product from experience.
- Prepare one STAR story per core value, plus one about using AI and one about cross-functional work.
- Read the posting closely and match your examples to the skills it lists.
- For technical roles, practise coding in the language you'd use on the job, and talk through your reasoning out loud.
- For bilingual support roles, practise handling a customer conversation in each language.
- Rehearse with someone, ideally in a mock interview with honest feedback.
- Prepare your own questions for the team, since Airbnb builds in time for them.
Practising realistic work tasks
Interviews reward prepared stories. Tests and work exercises reward judgement, and that improves with practice on realistic tasks. Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, runs free practice job simulations for job seekers. It isn't affiliated with Airbnb and doesn't use Airbnb's assessments or questions.
FAQs
How long does the Airbnb hiring process take?
Airbnb aims to respond to applications within 3 to 4 weeks. It doesn't publish how long the rest of the process takes.
How many interviews does Airbnb have?
Airbnb doesn't publish a number. It says you typically meet several people on the team, and some roles add a test, a video or an event.
Does Airbnb sponsor visas?
Rarely. Airbnb says sponsorship is limited to specialised positions and that it generally considers applicants already legally able to work in the role's country.
Do I need to be an Airbnb host to work there?
No. Airbnb says it isn't required, though it helps.
Will Airbnb give me feedback if I'm rejected?
Probably not. Airbnb says the volume of applications means you likely won't get personalised feedback.
Can I work remotely at Airbnb?
Airbnb's Live and Work Anywhere principles let employees work from home or an office and live anywhere in the country they're employed, though employees can't currently be located in Alaska, Mississippi or North Dakota. Check the posting for your role.
Sources
Airbnb's own pages, checked 27 October 2026:
- careers.airbnb.com: FAQ
- careers.airbnb.com: Life at Airbnb
- careers.airbnb.com: Customer-supporting roles
- careers.airbnb.com: Internship programmes
- careers.airbnb.com: Connect Engineering Apprenticeship
- careers.airbnb.com: job postings for engineering, machine learning, operations and support roles
- news.airbnb.com: What makes Airbnb, Airbnb (22 February 2021)