What Is a TPS (Technical Phone Screen)?

Full Definition

TPS (Technical Phone Screen) is the formal name for what most candidates call a phone screen. The 'technical' qualifier distinguishes it from the recruiter screen (an earlier conversation about background, motivation, and logistics that contains no technical content). A TPS is a real engineering interview round: 45-60 minutes, one or two coding problems on a shared editor, conducted by an engineer who would be a future peer. The bar is similar to the easier rounds of the onsite loop: LeetCode medium difficulty, expected to talk through approach before coding, expected to handle one or two follow-ups (often an optimization or a variant of the original problem). Pass rates are typically 40-60% depending on company and role. The term TPS is more common at Google, Meta, and other Bay Area tech companies; Amazon tends to call it 'phone screen' or 'first round'.