Honesty, pricing, process and quality scores appear once 5 customers have rated them.
About Interview Kickstart
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
Interview Kickstart (interviewkickstart.com) has 502 customer reviews on Folks Told, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.
Poor Communication Raises Red Flags at Interview Kickstart
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.
KB
Ketan B.
Stay Away
Stay Away – My 40-Day Refund Nightmare with Interview Kickstart
Title: Stay Away – My 40-Day Refund Nightmare with Interview Kickstart
Where to begin. I signed up with Interview Kickstart (IK) in July 2025 for the August cohort of their ML Flagship program. Because I was planning to take my PMP exam, I asked to reschedule to the September 2025 cohort. After 4-5 calls with their operations team I got the reschedule. Fine.
The September cohort started — and then the real trouble began. After just the first class I decided to cancel. I spent over an hour on the phone with 3-4 different agents, finally they allowed me to cancel. On September 20, 2025 cancellation was approved. On September 22, 2025 I received an email: they claimed they’d refunded the money back to my loan provider (Climb Credit) as credit. They said it would take 5-7 business days to post.
I patiently waited — until October 5, 2025 — nothing in my account. Every single day I emailed IK. What did I get? Nothing but apologies, no resolution. This dragged on until October 24, 2025.
At that point I dug into publicly-available corporate filings. I discovered: • Their listed California address: 4701 Patrick Henry Dr., Building 25, Santa Clara, CA 95054.  • On the Delaware side the only contact listed: 3 Germay Dr., Unit 4 #1755, Wilmington, DE 19804.  • According to your state’s specialist search, IK has not filed an annual corporation report for the last 2-3 years — which indicates their corporation may not be in good standing (or may even be inactive). • Their resident agent in California: CT Corporation System. The Delaware filings list yet another agent. These mismatches and inconsistencies strongly suggest that the company is not being transparent about its status.
Armed with that information, on October 24 I sent them a firm email, providing all the above corporate details and issuing a final warning: if the money did not reflect in my account by October 31, 2025, I would pursue legal action.
And guess what? Suddenly 2-3 calls from IK came in. Next day — the refund posted in my Climb Credit account. After 40 days of chasing them, the refund only arrived once I threatened a lawsuit.
This experience felt less like a professional service and more like a bait-and-switch. They lure you in by promising high-end interview prep, support, results – you pay — and then when you seek to exit early they drag their feet and hide behind bureaucracy. My “reschedule” process involved multiple contacts and delays; the cancellation process involved more confusion; the refund process took five-plus weeks, with nothing but apologies until I showed real push.
I’m convinced: IK is trying to hold onto hard-earned money from people who are already investing in their future. They are counting on inertia, frustration, and the fact that many won’t push hard for their money back.
My advice: Stay away. Unless you have unlimited time, patience, and the willingness to fight for your rights — you’re better off investing elsewhere. Don’t let yourself get trapped in the same cycle I did.
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Corporate details for your reference • California address: 4701 Patrick Henry Dr., Building 25, Santa Clara, CA 95054.  • Delaware mailing address: 3 Germay Dr., Unit 4 #1755, Wilmington, DE 19804.  • California resident agent: CT Corporation (as listed in BBB profile). 
BH
Ben H.
Bad experience with Interview Kickstart
I had a very bad experience with Interview Kickstart. After clicking one of their ads, I was bombarded with texts and calls every day. Eventually, I checked it out, but later discovered many complaints online about aggressive sales tactics and misleading claims.
The program costs around $10,000, typically financed through Klarna/Affirm loans. In my case, I felt misled by unclear agreements and pressured into signing. When I tried to cancel, they refused to provide a clear resolution, and I continued receiving calls and emails even after cancellation attempts.
What you actually get is mostly videos and Zoom calls—far from the expectations they set. To me, it felt like a very poor return for the price. I’ve also seen concerning reviews on BBB, Reddit, and Quora, and I personally question the authenticity of many of the glowing Trustpilot reviews.
In my opinion, the value was nowhere near what was promised, and I would strongly caution others to do their research before considering this program.
BE
Ben
Scammy / Bad Business
This is mostly a scam / rip-off / bad business. Stay away, even ChatGPT can teach better.
After clicking an Interview Kickstart ad, I received so many texts & calls every day that eventually tried to check it out, only later to find a lot of complaints about Interview Kickstart, how they continuously push you with false claims and shady business practices. It is not even a US company as they make it seem, a lots of the claims they make are false, they have been refusing to cancel and keep tricking me into signing unclear agreements. There are very concerning reviews on BBB, Reddit, Quora. After cancelling I keep getting more calls/emails without a resolution. I now believe most Trustpilot reviews must be fake, its basically a very expensive $10k cost for watching some videos/zoom calls. Absolute rip-off bait & switch.
AA
Ask a Lawyer On-Call C.
Exploitative and ILLEGAL
UPDATE: I've literally never experienced a more terrible company than this one. In addition to having spammed my emails, calls, and linkedin messages after leaving this review the head of operations at IK decided to constantly call me on a Sunday morning until I picked up. He called repeatedly FOUR separate times! I finally picked up and it turns out he was trying to bribe me to take my review down. What a terrible business.
ORIGINAL COMPLAINT:
Absolutely the most exploitative and shady company offering data structures and algorithms courses. I gave them my email one time, and now I get constant spam—emails, calls, even LinkedIn messages—because they apparently can’t be bothered to comply with basic legal standards or provide an unsubscribe button. Look up the CAN-SPAM Act and be ashamed!
SS
Sushila S.
Scam they will play all foul game with…
Scam they will play all foul game with you
KS
Krishanu S.
I took the machine-learning specialty…
I took the machine-learning specialty course in 2023. They bombarded me with very high level stuff from leet code. I tried asking for help which they had claimed is always there 24/7 but none was provided. I felt largely disconnected from the coursework. I'll say stay away. This is a sham company. Most 5 star reviews you see aren't real. Don't give them your hard-earned money.
DB
david B.
Really rude phone call
I signed up for a webinar at 530 pm. Then got an email it was 830. Then an extremely rude and disrespectful person calls . He was actually bullying me to attend his webinar. Bye