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ADOBE · SDE 1

Adobe SDE 1 interview

The SDE 1 (entry-level software engineer) level at Adobe is MTS-1 / SDE 1–2, for new grads and engineers with up to about 2 years of experience. The rounds at this level, how each one is scored, and the questions to practise first.

From public candidate reports and Adobe's careers pages, checked November 2026. Processes vary by team. AlgoRung is not affiliated with Adobe.

Track my Adobe prep
Adobe titleMTS-1 / SDE 1–2
ExperienceNew grads and engineers with up to about 2 years of experience
Interviews after screeningAbout 4
System design roundUsually not

The SDE 1 rounds, in order

  1. Online assessment · 90 min

    Two coding problems plus a 30-minute aptitude section; experienced hires often skip it.

    At SDE 1: The main filter for new grads and campus drives. Expect two medium problems, sometimes one hard. Passing all test cases on both usually gets you to the next round.

  2. Phone / recruiter screen · 30 min

    A recruiter or HR call on your current role and next steps.

    At SDE 1: Usually one medium problem. Explain your idea before coding and test by hand at the end.

  3. Coding (DSA) × 2 · 60 min

    DSA rounds with one or two medium-to-hard problems, plus DBMS, OS and sometimes SQL questions.

    At SDE 1: The largest part of the loop: often three coding rounds. Medium problems, sometimes one hard. Correct, clean code and clear reasoning matter more than speed.

  4. Hiring manager · 70 min

    A managerial round mixing a project deep dive, concurrency and API questions, a design question, and usually one DSA problem.

    At SDE 1: Motivation, learning, a project walk-through and sometimes CS fundamentals.

  5. Hiring manager · 60 min

    A director round: why you are moving, plus one or two classic algorithms coded fully.

    At SDE 1: Motivation, learning, a project walk-through and sometimes CS fundamentals.

What Adobe interviewers look for

Behavioral rounds are based on the Company values: Create the future, Own the outcome, Raise the bar, Be genuine. Questions for each one.

Coding questions to practise for Adobe SDE 1

The largest part of the loop: often three coding rounds. Medium problems, sometimes one hard. Correct, clean code and clear reasoning matter more than speed.

Difficulty
Topic
11 questions
  1. Longest Repeating Character Replacement Medium Arrays & Hashing also Uber
  2. Odd Even Linked List Medium Linked List also Apple
  3. Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters Medium Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Netflix, Flipkart
  4. Diameter of Binary Tree Easy Trees & BST also Meta
  5. Next Greater Element I Easy Monotonic Stack also Oracle, Walmart Global Tech
  6. Kadane's Algorithm - Simple Medium Arrays & Hashing also LinkedIn
  7. Spiral Matrix Medium Arrays & Hashing also Microsoft
  8. House Robber Medium Dynamic Programming also Flipkart
  9. Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum Hard Trees & BST also Google, Amazon
  10. Median of Two Sorted Arrays Hard Binary Search also Microsoft
  11. Continuous Subarray Sum Medium Arrays & Hashing also Oracle

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

Design at SDE 1

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.

All Adobe system design questions

Questions people ask

How many rounds are in the Adobe SDE 1 interview?

About 4 interviews after the screening: online assessment, phone / recruiter screen, coding (dsa), hiring manager.

Is there a system design round for Adobe SDE 1?

Usually not as a separate round. 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.

What coding questions does Adobe ask at SDE 1?

The same question pool is used across levels; the bar rises with level. Most reported: Longest Repeating Character Replacement, Odd Even Linked List, Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters, Diameter of Binary Tree, Next Greater Element I.

What does Adobe expect in coding rounds at SDE 1?

The largest part of the loop: often three coding rounds. Medium problems, sometimes one hard. Correct, clean code and clear reasoning matter more than speed.

SDE 1 interviews at other companies

SDE 1 interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions