Company-Specific Hiring
How to Get a Job at Airbnb — The Mission-Driven Hiring Guide
Airbnb is one of the most mission-driven companies in tech — and that mission is assessed in every interview. Candidates who genuinely believe in Airbnb's vision and can demonstrate belonging and hospitality in how they show up convert at significantly higher rates.
Airbnb's core values — assessed in interviews
- Champion the Mission — belong anywhere
- Be a Host — create belonging for others
- Embrace the Adventure — comfort with ambiguity
- Simplify — clarity over complexity
- Be a Storyteller — communicate with narrative
Preparing for Airbnb interviews
- Use Airbnb — as a host or guest — before your interview. Airbnb expects candidates to know the product from the inside. If you have hosted or traveled with Airbnb, have specific stories ready: what worked, what didn't, and what you would improve. This is not an optional nice-to-have — it is a genuine differentiator.
- Know Airbnb's mission statement and internalize it. "Create a world where anyone can belong anywhere" is not marketing copy at Airbnb — it is the central operating principle. Your "Why Airbnb?" answer should connect to this mission specifically and personally. Generic enthusiasm ("I love the product") is table stakes; genuine alignment is what differentiates.
- Be a host in the interview. Airbnb's 'Be a Host' value means creating a welcoming environment for others. In your interview, demonstrate this: thank interviewers for their time genuinely, be curious about their experience at Airbnb, make them feel heard and respected. Culture interviewers notice whether candidates extend hospitality or just perform competence.
- For PM and design: lead with user empathy. Airbnb's design-centric culture means product decisions are made by asking "how does this feel for the host? For the guest?" first. Prepare product improvement answers that lead with deep empathy for both sides of the marketplace — not just with metrics.
- For SWE: practice both coding and system design. Airbnb's engineering scale requires both — global search, pricing models, booking reliability, and fraud detection are signature engineering challenges. Read Airbnb's engineering blog to understand the actual technical problems they work on.
Getting into Airbnb's process
- Airbnb is fully remote — geography is no longer a barrier. Since 2022, Airbnb employees can live and work anywhere. This expanded the talent pool and applicant volume — but also means Airbnb is accessible to candidates outside of SF and NYC who might have previously self-selected out.
- Referrals are particularly powerful at Airbnb. Airbnb's culture is close-knit — employees refer people they would genuinely want to work with and share the culture with. A referral from an Airbnb employee who can speak to your cultural alignment (not just technical skill) is highly effective.
- Show Airbnb community involvement. Airbnb has a strong host community, alumni network, and travel culture. Demonstrating connection to that community — through hosting, travel storytelling, or community participation — signals genuine alignment rather than a transactional interest in the company.
- Target the right team explicitly. Airbnb's major product areas include Core (booking, search), Host, Guest, Payments, Airbnb Experiences, and Infrastructure. Research which team your target role sits in and tailor your application and interview to that team's specific mission and challenges.
Get coached for Airbnb's culture-first hiring process
Askia's interview coaching prepares you for Airbnb's unique combination of technical rigor and mission-driven culture assessment — so you show up as someone Airbnb would genuinely want on their team.
