Citadel vs Pinterest Interview Questions
Citadel lists 101 LeetCode interview questions while Pinterest lists 49. They share 10 problems — 10% of Citadel's bank and 20% of Pinterest's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 91 Citadel-only and 39 Pinterest-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 10 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Citadel and Pinterest.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Citadel-specific problems like Longest Non-decreasing Subarray From Two Arrays, Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum, Minimum Knight Moves and Pinterest-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Pinterest skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
10 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Citadel and Pinterest.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Sudoku Solver | Hard |
| Employee Free Time | Hard |
| Find Median from Data Stream | Hard |
| Design Search Autocomplete System | Hard |
| Combination Sum | Medium |
| Implement Trie (Prefix Tree) | Medium |
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Reorganize String | Medium |
| Bus Routes | Hard |
Unique to Citadel (91)
Problems in Citadel's list that do not appear at Pinterest.
Unique to Pinterest (39)
Problems in Pinterest's list that do not appear at Citadel.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Citadel and Pinterest share?
Citadel and Pinterest share 10 LeetCode interview questions. 91 problems appear only in Citadel's list and 39 appear only in Pinterest's list.
What topics overlap most between Citadel and Pinterest?
The most common shared topics between Citadel and Pinterest are Array (5 shared questions), Hash Table (5 shared questions), Sorting (4 shared questions), Heap (Priority Queue) (4 shared questions), String (4 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Citadel or Pinterest?
Citadel has 5 Easy, 60 Medium, and 36 Hard questions. Pinterest has 1 Easy, 29 Medium, and 19 Hard questions. Pinterest has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Citadel and Pinterest?
Start with the 10 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Citadel-specific and 20 Pinterest-specific questions to round out your prep.