Interview Kickstart is a part-time, 12-15 week online interview training platform that helps software engineers nail technical interviews at FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) and Tier-1 companies. Interview Kickstart helps students strengthen their programming fundamentals and become better engineers in the process, thereby equipping them with the right set of skills required to crack tough technical interviews at top companies. Based on a student’s career path, they can choose from 18 different domain-specific courses.The course curriculum covers Data Structures and Algorithms, Distributed Systems, Design, Domain-Specific Concepts, and Behavioral Interviews. Students will receive support with optimizing their LinkedIn profile and leveraging LinkedIn to land FAANG interviews. Interview Kickstart gives students expert support with salary negotiation to land bigger and more lucrative offers, mock interviews with industry experts and FAANG hiring managers, one-on-one mentor sessions with technical leads and hiring managers from FAANG companies, and 18 domain courses that specialize in the highest-paying domains.The highlight of Interview Kickstart’s program is the technical interview prep. Interview Kickstart’s team of 500+ instructors are hiring managers, technical leads, and hiring committee members at FAANG and Tier-1 companies. Being closely acquainted with the hiring process at top tech companies, these instructors know precisely what recruiters are looking for while hiring candidates. This gives students an edge and sets them up for success at highly competitive and challenging technical interviews at FAANG+ companies. After course completion, Interview Kickstart students receive an extended 6-month support period. During the support period, students can retake classes, schedule mock interviews with domain experts, have one-on-one sessions with instructors from FAANG companies, get support with optimizing their LinkedIn profile and resume, and land interviews through Interview Kickstart’s wide network of alums. Since 2014, Interview Kickstart has trained over 13,500 engineers for the toughest tech interviews. Interview Kickstart alums receive multiple lucrative offers from top companies, including FAANG, Microsoft, Uber, Lyft, LinkedIn, Twitter, VMware, and more. In 2021, Interview Kickstart graduates received an average salary increase of 53%.
Written by the business, not verified by us.Interview Kickstart (interviewkickstart.com) has a 4.4 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 102 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Education & Training and its reputation is good. 86% of reviews are 4 stars or higher and 13% are 1 star; The business has not yet replied to negative reviews; Reviews mostly discuss User experience, Customer service, Quality. Last updated 2026-08-31.
Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently praise the knowledgeable instructors, live classes, and structured curriculum preparing learners for technical interviews. People also highlight the responsive support team, flexible scheduling options, and valuable mock interview sessions with industry experts. Participants find the platform resources and practical assignments very helpful for building confidence. Some reviewers were not happy with post-enrollment support, communication quality, and administrative processes. Consumers mentioned experiencing delayed responses, automated email loops, and difficulties resolving concerns or requesting early exits. Learners also noted that certain sessions differed significantly from initial sales expectations.
Auto-generated from all reviews of this business. For reference only.I am about half way through my IK experience. This is the second time. The first time (about 6 years ago) it was well worth it. This time around: (a) I have been badgered to give good reviews (b) I have been given the run-around by bots when asking for support (c) The amount of career support compared to last time pales in comparison. The course has value, but not for the price I paid.
The good: Excellent training and support. The bad: My landlord won't take payment in training and support, and IK's job placement assistance have proven unable to get me so much as a job stocking shelves at my local supermarket, never mind the $500K FAANG offer in the email they sent me. You might get better results than I did, O Reader, but it's a gamble that I regret making.
Title: Not worth a penny ($8k wasted) – Misleading sales team and terrible support! I finally signed up for Interview Kickstart on May 15th, 2026, after six months of relentless daily emails and phone calls from their sales team. From day one, I doubted it and resistred to sing up and brought up my concern with the sales and they misguided me. I realized it was a huge mistake from day 1. English is my second language, and I struggle to understand heavy Indian English accents. I raised this specific concern with the sales team before signing up. They manipulated me and assured me that while a few instructors were Indian, the program was diverse, and most students were American. Relying on their promises, I trusted them and paid $8,000. That was completely false. Three months in, every single session has been led by instructors with heavy accents, and 99% of the students are Indian as well. It even gets worse: they all talk over each other, and teachers can not mange the online class by simply muting students and giving them access one by one to talk! (To be clear: this isn't an attack on Indian culture; it's strictly a communication barrier on my end as an ESL speaker). When I reached out to Support, Sales, and Operations, I got caught in an endless loop of automated emails. Every reply I sent was met by a new agent asking the same questions. Even my assigned "Student Success Manager" just dumped me back into the Operations email void. When another non-Indian student and I brought it up during a live class, the instructor just told us to "contact Operations." It’s been three months of complete exhaustion, zero progress, and $8,000 down the drain. The concept is decent, but the execution is a disaster, and the sales team will lie to get your money. Their student support team is another disaster of receiving a million spam calls and emails instead of receivng a right on point support. Save your money and do not trust them!
In 2024, I signed up for this program after being laid off. After going through the program, I realized that it is primarily designed for people without a computer science background. The curriculum focuses heavily on fundamental concepts, and it can take anywhere from 3–6 months to complete all the material. I also found it difficult to stay engaged with the lengthy and somewhat repetitive lectures. More importantly, there wasn't enough practical, job-interview-focused coding or system design preparation. Based on my experience, I would not recommend spending this much money on the program. I don't feel that it provides enough value to significantly improve your chances of landing a job, especially if you already have a CS background or professional software engineering experience. Instead, I would recommend using platforms like NeetCode or Hello Interview to review and strengthen your fundamentals. They provide much more focused and practical preparation for coding interviews and system design. Also, keep in mind that completing this program is not the same as completing a university-accredited curriculum, so I don't think it adds significant value to a resume or LinkedIn profile.
This has been, without question, the worst customer support experience I have ever had with any educational or professional service. The difference between the pre-sales experience and the post-enrollment experience is night and day. Before you pay, you’re contacted promptly, your questions are answered, and you’re made to feel like you’ll be well supported. The moment you’re enrolled, that support seems to disappear. There is effectively no customer support. There is no phone number to call, no reliable way to speak to a real person, and no sense of ownership or accountability. Every issue is funneled through a chatbot that sends generic, automated replies, often after 1–2 days, regardless of the urgency of the issue. If you actually need a human being to help, you’re simply left waiting. For a program that charges such a premium price, this level of post-enrollment support is beyond disappointing—it is unacceptable. When you’re investing thousands of dollars, you expect access to a responsive operations team. Instead, I experienced silence, delays, automated responses, and an almost complete absence of meaningful customer care. The curriculum may or may not meet your expectations, but if post-enrollment support matters to you, I would urge you to think very carefully before signing up. I wish I had known what the customer experience would actually be like after payment. It would have significantly influenced my decision.
I have learnt a lot from Interview Kickstart. They are the ones to offer the latest courses, but the world of AI is moving so fast so they do what they can. The curriculum is intense and most of their instructors are FAANG employees. If you call their customer support team, they try to do their best to help you. The portal is amazing with lot of resources and live help from teachers everyday. I did two courses and I am happy!
If you value your mental health, professional dignity, and basic labor rights, do not join Interview Kickstart. I have over 10 years of experience across various fields and have worked in high-pressure environments, but the sheer toxicity, micromanagement, and verbal harassment at this company are unprecedented. Within just 3 to 4 days of joining, I—and the entire cohort hired alongside me—was subjected to relentless harassment and public shaming. Here is the reality of what you are signing up for: 1. Extreme Micromanagement & Verbal Abuse The management style here is predatory and abusive. My direct manager, Rewati, would call me every 10 minutes to police my work. She would then escalate to Akshay, who would call separately just to inflict further verbal harassment and intimidation. They do not respect employees, including female staff, and treat people with utter disdain. 2. Exploitative Work Hours The baseline expectation here is that you slave away for 13 to 14 hours a day. There is zero concept of work-life balance, only an expectation of unconditional compliance under the threat of aggressive nagging and torture. 3. An Unsellable Product From a business standpoint, it is a sinking ship. Past students have virtually nothing good to say about their experience, making the product near-impossible to sell. You are set up to fail from day one. 4. A Completely Corrupt HR & Leadership Hierarchy Do not expect help from upper management or HR: Devik (Head): Completely useless when issues were escalated. He offered zero support or intervention. HR Department: They do not exist to protect employees. They function entirely as a shield for management. If you complain, they align with the abusers and actively make your life a living hell to force you to quit. The Management Team: The people in charge behave like uneducated individuals who only hold power because they happen to be friends with someone higher up. They possess zero actual leadership capability. A Warning to the Founders To the founders of Interview Kickstart: I genuinely feel sorry for you. Your current management team—specifically Rewati, Akshay, and Devik—is the iceberg to your Titanic. They are driving your culture into the ground and ruining your brand reputation. Final Verdict: Save your time, effort, and sanity. You will regret joining this company on day one. Avoid Interview Kickstart at all costs.
My experience with the Interview Kickstart is very positive, both with the company and the training. I signed up knowing I really wanted to learn the Agentic AI to make no code agents and to manage projects. when i told them i was laid off, they were very supported with helping with the tuition. The original contact person talked to me several times to understand what i wanted to do even though i wasn't sure. Subsequently i have been very pleased with the training and continuing support. I'm learning very quickly because of their system and people/trainers from the FAANG companies.
Leveraged an elite technical transition program to up-level core competencies in System Design and Data Structures. Collaborated with MAANG Subject Matter Experts through live, high-intensity sessions to resolve complex architectural bottlenecks. This focused mentorship solidified my technical foundation, evolving my approach to engineering management and ensuring readiness for high-scale competitive market demands.
Interview Kickstart truly cares about your career and up leveling your skills, the course material is top notch. The instructors are knowledgeable and from the Tech industry. The learning is highly customizable to meet the unique needs of each learner and the support team is very responsive and helpful.
Modules are designed well. The curriculum is thorough without being bloated. Every concept is broken down clearly. Faculty are very knowledgeable about the topics. One thing that sets Interview Kickstart apart is the quality of their instructors. These aren't just educators — they're engineers who have hands on experience.
This company is a pseudo-scam business based out of India pretending to be in silicon valley to sound legitimate. They are registered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. They have manufactured many positive review so mine may be drowned out but proceed with caution! They use classical aggressive pressure tactics and fear mongering to capitalize on their victims knowing full well most will not succeed. They try and refuse to abide by their own terms of service and are extremely unreliable. If you don't believe me, check the Better Business Bureau and Reddit for another side to their ecosystem of fake positive reviews. In the end they did refund me, so there that, but that may only because I didn't go through their financing option. Either way proceed with extreme caution.
IK has the best platform to upskill your career. The live classes and coaches are phenomenal and very professional. They have structured program where you can join live classes, do offline practice and come up with your doubts in next query session. Plus, they do help us to prepare with mock interviews for FAANG Companies. I would suggest everyone if you are planning foe next level growth in your career, do Join IK!
I Got Scammed by Interview Kickstart -Please Read Before You Sign Up I want to share my experience to help others avoid the trap I fell into. I signed up for Interview Kickstart after attending one of their webinars, which was filled with lofty promises about preparing you for FAANG-level interviews. They painted a convincing picture and called me every day, pressurized me to pay upfront $8.6k thru Klarna. I fell into their trap and I paid. Here’s where things went wrong: • The training was subpar and not tailored to my role at all. They clearly didn’t have qualified staff for engineering manager or solution architecture roles. • After the first session, I asked for a refund. Before signing up, they had assured me I could cancel within 10 days and get a full refund. • Once I asked for the refund, they refused, going back on their word. • I reached out to Klarna, hoping they’d help- but they pushed it back on me to resolve with Interview Kickstart. Klarna sided with them, likely because IK is a large merchant and I’m just one customer. • On top of all this, Interview Kickstart even forged contract documents and made the whole dispute a nightmare. I went through 100+ back-and-forth emails with both companies and ultimately had to forfeit my money. Interview Kickstart is, in my opinion, a scam company, and Klarna enables that behavior by refusing to support scammed customers. IK seems to be run out of India with some Indian folks with thick accent, and the lack of accountability is staggering. They don’t care if you plan to file a legal case, because they’re based outside the U.S. this gives them cover to run this racket from India with little accountability. Please stay away from both Interview Kickstart and Klarna. Don’t make the same expensive mistake I did.
I enrolled in the Interview Kickstart Fast-track Specialized Domain Interview Preparation Program (Data Analyst / Business Analyst) in January 2025. After enrollment, the actual delivery of the program differed significantly from how it was represented during the sales process. Access to support was unreliable and difficult to navigate. Support tickets were frequently closed without resolution, and follow-up calls were often made at inappropriate hours, including after 9:00 pm, and even 11 pm (EST). Guidance provided by different representatives was inconsistent and sometimes contradictory. Communication channels were extremely limited. The only available means of communication were a chatbot and chat-based support handled by teams located in India. There was no named manager, no title, and no clear escalation path to raise unresolved issues to a higher level. As a result, it was effectively impossible to reach or hold accountable any identifiable representative responsible for overseeing support, resolving disputes, or making decisions. Reaching real company representatives or escalating concerns in a meaningful way did not appear to be possible. Despite the program being marketed as personalized and mentor-driven, access to genuine one-on-one coaching was extremely limited. Sessions advertised as “1:1” were often group sessions, and resume review requests submitted through the platform did not result in any individualized feedback. Scheduling issues were common, including overlapping sessions booked for the same time slot, which caused missed coaching opportunities. The structure and time requirements of the course were not transparent prior to purchase. Only module titles were shown during enrollment, with no indication of actual duration or workload. After payment, many modules were revealed to be several hours long, unstructured, and difficult to follow, with a noticeable portion of the content appearing outdated. I also noted that across multiple review platforms, there is a significant number of negative reviews from users based in the United States, suggesting these issues are not isolated. I also want to note that a large number of highly positive reviews appear to be posted by users based in India, which stands in contrast to many detailed negative reviews from U.S.-based users. There are currently many third-party services and platforms that can automatically generate or syndicate inauthentic positive reviews to Google, so prospective students should review feedback carefully and consider the source and level of detail when evaluating reviews. Due to these concerns, I submitted a formal refund request. To date, I have not received any response or resolution from the company, and my request has not been formally addressed. As a result of the lack of response, I have initiated the process of recovering the funds through formal legal and consumer protection channels. I am sharing this review so prospective students can make an informed decision based on how the program operates in practice and how unresolved concerns are handled after enrollment.
The course content is well designed and provides a good overview of the AI landscape, progressing from fundamentals in Python for AI, to more advanced topics like langchain, Agentic systems, etc. The instructors come from relevant industry background, are strong SMEs, and share real world examples. The pre-read material, the assignments and addl content are well curated. My experience has been pretty smooth overall, and the operations team has been very responsive and supportive. It is however important to stay with the schedule, and actively follow up with the clarifications as needed in order to derive maximum value. Overall, it has been a very positive learning experience so far.
I attended a free webinar that introduced Interview Kickstart and their educational programs focused on upskilling in AI-related topics. Following the webinar, I signed up for a 1:1 meeting with a program advisor. However, I never received a confirmation, a call, or any follow-up from the advisor, and the meeting ultimately did not take place. Prior to the scheduled time, I sent a reminder email, but the message bounced back. I then attempted to contact Interview Kickstart using the email address listed on their website, but I did not receive a response there either. Given that their programs cost several thousand dollars, I expected significantly more reliable communication and responsiveness. Additionally, the company’s social media presence appears to emphasize recruiting H-1B holders and "placing them in FAANG companies," which suggests a focus on placement services rather than purely educational offerings. This raised concerns for me about how the company positions itself and whom it targets. Based on my experience so far, the lack of communication and follow-through has been disappointing, and I would caution others to carefully evaluate the organization before committing time or money.
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