INTERVIEW PREP · INDIA AND US
Adobe software engineer interview
The rounds at each level, what interviewers score, the Company values, and the questions candidates report, linked to problems you can solve here with the editor, walkthrough video and solutions in four languages.
Levels
| AlgoRung level | Adobe title | Experience | Interviews after screening | Design rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDE 1 | MTS-1 / SDE 1–2 | New grad to about 2 years | about 4 | Usually not |
| SDE 2 | MTS-2, Computer Scientist / SDE 3 | About 2 to 5 years | about 5 | Yes |
| SDE 3 | Computer Scientist II, Senior Computer Scientist / SDE 4–5 | Senior, about 5 to 10 years | about 6 | Yes |
| SDE 4 | Principal Scientist and above | Staff, principal and above | about 4 | Yes |
The rounds, in order
Pick your level above to see only your rounds. Each step links to a guide on how that round is scored.
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Online assessment · 90 min
Two coding problems plus a 30-minute aptitude section; experienced hires often skip it.
SDE 1
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Phone / recruiter screen · 30 min
A recruiter or HR call on your current role and next steps.
All levels
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Coding (DSA) × 2 · 60 min
DSA rounds with one or two medium-to-hard problems, plus DBMS, OS and sometimes SQL questions.
All levels
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Low-level design / machine coding · 60 min
Schema design and modular code for a booking-style system, with queries against your schema.
SDE 2, SDE 3
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System design (HLD) · 60 min
Senior loops alternate DSA and design rounds, e.g. a serverless media-processing service.
SDE 3, SDE 4
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Hiring manager · 70 min
A managerial round mixing a project deep dive, concurrency and API questions, a design question, and usually one DSA problem.
All levels
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Hiring manager · 60 min
A director round: why you are moving, plus one or two classic algorithms coded fully.
SDE 1, SDE 2, SDE 3
ScreeningCodingDesignBehavioralDecision
What interviewers look for
- An optimal approach in a single pass when asked
- Complete, runnable code, including the classes you need
- Solid CS fundamentals: DBMS, OS, networking
- Clean schema and modular design
- Deep knowledge of your current project
- Adapting quickly when the rules change
Topics to focus on
Weighted by what candidates say comes up and by the reported questions below.
Behavioral: Company values
No dedicated values round for engineers: the managerial and director rounds probe motivation, ownership, disagreements and projects you are proud of.
Create the futureInvention and simplification · Big impact and long-term thinking
Show a simpler or new way of doing something and the measurable result.
- Tell me about a time you made a decision that hurt in the short term but helped in the long term.
- Tell me about a time you simplified a complex process or system.
- Describe an idea of yours that the team adopted.
Own the outcomeOwnership
Show you took responsibility beyond your task: you noticed, you acted, you followed through.
- Tell me about a time you took on something outside your responsibilities.
- Tell me about a time you made a decision that hurt in the short term but helped in the long term.
- Describe a mistake you made that reached production. How did you handle it?
Raise the barHigh standards
Show you raised the bar on quality even when nobody asked, and why it mattered.
- Tell me about a time you were not satisfied with "good enough".
- Describe a time you had to choose between quality and speed.
- Describe how you assess or help hire a new team member.
Be genuineIntegrity and trust
Show you were honest when it was uncomfortable, and how you earned trust back.
- Describe a mistake you made that reached production. How did you handle it?
- Tell me about a time you had to tell someone something they did not want to hear.
- Describe how you built trust with a new team or stakeholder.
All behavioral questions · Write your STAR stories in the story bank
Coding questions candidates report
Each links to the AlgoRung problem: write-up, animated walkthrough, solutions in Java, Python, C++ and JavaScript, and an editor with hidden tests. Shared questions show the other companies that ask them.
- Longest Repeating Character Replacement Medium Arrays & Hashing also Uber
- Odd Even Linked List Medium Linked List also Apple
- Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters Medium Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Netflix, Flipkart
- Diameter of Binary Tree Easy Trees & BST also Meta
- Next Greater Element I Easy Monotonic Stack also Oracle, Walmart Global Tech
- Kadane's Algorithm - Simple Medium Arrays & Hashing also LinkedIn
- Spiral Matrix Medium Arrays & Hashing also Microsoft
- House Robber Medium Dynamic Programming also Flipkart
- Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum Hard Trees & BST also Google, Amazon
- Median of Two Sorted Arrays Hard Binary Search also Microsoft
- Continuous Subarray Sum Medium Arrays & Hashing also Oracle
No questions match.
Adobe coding questions by topic · Adobe SDE 1 interview · Adobe SDE 2 interview · Adobe senior interview · Adobe staff interview
Also reported, not on AlgoRung yet (3)
Shortest Path in a Grid with Obstacles Elimination · Largest Number · Trapping Rain Water II
Design questions
MTS-1 loops mostly test DSA and fundamentals. MTS-2 and Computer Scientist loops add an LLD round on schema and modular code. Senior Computer Scientist and above alternate DSA with HLD rounds, often on media or cloud services.
- Reported: Search typeahead Search autocomplete · walkthrough
- Reported: URL shortener URL shortener · walkthrough Practise on the board
Also reported: Car rental system (LLD + schema) · Elevator system · Serverless thumbnail generation · Distributed cache
Adobe system design questions in detail · How to answer any design question: the LADDER method
Worth knowing
- Noida and Bengaluru are the main India sites; 2025 loops often finished within a week.
- India job posts now use 'Software Development Engineer 1–5', while people still say MTS / Computer Scientist.
- The MTS-1 online test includes timed aptitude sections alongside coding.
- Managerial and director rounds almost always include a DSA problem you must code.
Interviewing at Adobe?
Add the date and your level. AlgoRung builds a plan back from the interview day, schedules revisions before it, and counts problems you have already solved for every company that asks them.
Sources
Written in our own words from these public pages and candidate reports, checked November 2026. Company names are trademarks of their owners.