INTERVIEW PREP · US
Netflix software engineer interview
The rounds at each level, what interviewers score, the Culture memo, 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 | Netflix title | Experience | Interviews after screening | Design rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDE 1 | L3 Software Engineer 3 (small new-grad program) | New grad to about 2 years | about 5 | Usually not |
| SDE 2 | L4 Software Engineer 4 | About 2 to 5 years | about 6 | Yes |
| SDE 3 | L5 Senior Software Engineer | Senior, about 5 to 10 years | about 7 | Yes |
| SDE 4 | L6 Staff, L7 Principal | Staff, principal and above | about 7 | 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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Phone / recruiter screen · 30 min
A recruiter call on background and motivation, which also checks whether you know the culture memo.
All levels
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Online assessment · 90 min
Some early-career loops use a two-part online assessment, and one part may allow AI help.
SDE 1
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Coding (DSA) · 60 min
The technical screen is live coding, usually a practical problem tied to the team's domain rather than a puzzle.
All levels
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Hiring manager · 45 min
The hiring manager goes through your past work and team fit; on some teams this happens after team matching.
All levels
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Coding (DSA) · 45 min
Onsite coding is practical and open-ended (caches, data modeling, concurrency) and builds on follow-up questions.
All levels
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System design (HLD) · 60 min
An open system design discussion, often framed around the team's own area such as ads, streaming or recommendations.
SDE 2, SDE 3, SDE 4
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Team-specific round · 45 min
Some senior loops add a concurrency, debugging, craftsmanship or operations round chosen by the team.
SDE 3, SDE 4
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Behavioral × 2 · 45 min
Culture rounds test each value in the culture memo with real stories.
All levels
ScreeningCodingDesignBehavioralDecision
What interviewers look for
- Senior-level independent judgment and ownership with little supervision
- Candor: giving and receiving hard feedback
- Practical, production-quality coding over puzzle-solving
- Domain depth relevant to the team
- Clear trade-off reasoning in open-ended problems
Topics to focus on
Weighted by what candidates say comes up and by the reported questions below.
Behavioral: Culture memo
Candidates are expected to have read the memo. Interviewers ask for stories about candid feedback, disagreeing then committing, and acting with freedom and responsibility, often asking the same theme two or three times for different examples.
SelflessnessCollaboration and inclusion
Show how you helped others succeed and made people feel they belonged.
- Describe a decision you argued against but then had to carry out.
- Tell me about a time you helped a teammate succeed.
- Describe a project that needed several teams. How did you get them aligned?
JudgmentDiving deep · Ambiguity and judgment
Show you went to the data or the code to find the real root cause.
- Tell me about a time you had to balance a customer need against a technical constraint.
- Describe a project where the requirements were unclear. How did you move forward?
- Tell me about a decision you made without all the data you wanted.
CandorDisagreement and candor
Disagree with data, respectfully, then commit fully once the decision is made.
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager. What happened?
- Describe a decision you argued against but then had to carry out.
- Tell me about the hardest feedback you have given or received.
CreativityInvention and simplification
Show a simpler or new way of doing something and the measurable result.
- Tell me about a time you simplified a complex process or system.
- Describe an idea of yours that the team adopted.
- Tell me about the most ambitious project you have proposed.
CourageResilience and courage · Ambiguity and judgment
Show you kept going through a setback or made an unpopular call that was right.
- Tell me about a time you had to balance a customer need against a technical constraint.
- Describe a project where the requirements were unclear. How did you move forward?
- Tell me about a decision you made without all the data you wanted.
InclusionCollaboration and inclusion
Show how you helped others succeed and made people feel they belonged.
- Describe a decision you argued against but then had to carry out.
- Tell me about a time you helped a teammate succeed.
- Describe a project that needed several teams. How did you get them aligned?
CuriosityCuriosity and growth
Show something you learned on your own and how you used it at work.
- Tell me about the hardest feedback you have given or received.
- Tell me about a project that failed. What did you learn?
- Tell me about something you had to learn quickly for a project.
ResilienceResilience and courage · Ambiguity and judgment
Show you kept going through a setback or made an unpopular call that was right.
- Tell me about a time you had to balance a customer need against a technical constraint.
- Describe a project where the requirements were unclear. How did you move forward?
- Tell me about a decision you made without all the data you wanted.
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.
- LRU Cache Medium Design Data Structures also Amazon, Microsoft, Apple +4
- Time Based Key-Value Store Medium Binary Search also Apple
- Course Schedule Medium Graphs also Google, Amazon, Uber +1
- Valid Parentheses Easy Stack also Apple
- Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock Easy Dynamic Programming also Amazon, Apple, Walmart Global Tech
- Merge Intervals Medium Intervals also LinkedIn, Atlassian, Oracle
- Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters Medium Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Adobe, Flipkart
- Kth Largest Element in an Array Medium Heaps
- Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree Medium Trees & BST also Google, Meta, Atlassian +1
No questions match.
Netflix coding questions by topic · Netflix SDE 1 interview · Netflix SDE 2 interview · Netflix senior interview · Netflix staff interview
Also reported, not on AlgoRung yet (1)
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Design questions
Design comes up from mid-level and gets heavier at L5 and above. It is open-ended and often tied to the team's domain; senior candidates lead the discussion and work through build-vs-buy, operational and failure trade-offs.
- Reported: Ad frequency capping service Ad click aggregator · walkthrough
Also reported: Recommendation system and its signals · Forgot-password flow end to end · Distributed key-value store
Netflix system design questions in detail · How to answer any design question: the LADDER method
Worth knowing
- Netflix hires mostly at L4 and L5+, and L4 is not considered entry level.
- Questions are more open-ended than expected and lean on the team's domain.
- A May 2025 onsite had 5 rounds: 2 behavioral, 1 system design, 1 concurrency and 1 technical.
- Some loops do team matching before the hiring manager round, which can add 2–3 weeks.
Interviewing at Netflix?
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.