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SALESFORCE · SDE 2

Salesforce SDE 2 interview

The SDE 2 (mid-level software engineer) level at Salesforce is MTS to SMTS, for engineers with about 2 to 5 years of experience. The rounds at this level, how each one is scored, and the questions to practise first.

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

Track my Salesforce prep
Salesforce titleMTS to SMTS
ExperienceEngineers with about 2 to 5 years of experience
Interviews after screeningAbout 5
System design roundYes

The SDE 2 rounds, in order

  1. Phone / recruiter screen · 30 min

    A recruiter screen on experience, notice period and expected pay.

    At SDE 2: One or two problems, a little faster. Some companies mix in a design question.

  2. Online assessment · 75 min

    A proctored online test with two or three medium-to-hard problems.

    At SDE 2: Used by some companies for experienced hires (Amazon, Uber, Salesforce, Oracle). The bar is the same as for SDE 1 but the time is often shorter.

  3. Coding (DSA) × 2 · 60 min

    Live coding where interviewers often require the optimal complexity before you start coding.

    At SDE 2: Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

  4. Low-level design / machine coding · 60 min

    Object and concurrency design, such as a connection pool, often starting with database and sharding questions.

    At SDE 2: The core round at many product companies: working, modular, extensible code with validation, error handling and tests, finished on time.

  5. System design (HLD) · 60 min

    A deep-dive design round on failure handling, distributed transactions and rollout strategy.

    At SDE 2: Present at most companies. A sound end-to-end design with sensible components and basic scaling is enough.

  6. Hiring manager · 60 min

    An architecture walkthrough of your current system plus behavioral questions; for AMTS it includes a coding problem.

    At SDE 2: Ownership of features, handling production issues, working with product and other teams.

What Salesforce interviewers look for

Behavioral rounds are based on the Core values: Trust, Customer Success, Innovation, Equality, Sustainability. Questions for each one.

Coding questions to practise for Salesforce SDE 2

Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

Difficulty
Topic
5 questions
  1. Trapping Rain Water Hard Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs +1
  2. Max Stack Hard Design Data Structures also LinkedIn
  3. Maximum Frequency Stack Hard Design Data Structures
  4. Min Stack Medium Design Data Structures
  5. Coin Change Medium Dynamic Programming also Google, Airbnb, Goldman Sachs

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

System design at SDE 2

AMTS and MTS loops are mostly coding plus CS fundamentals. SMTS adds a mixed HLD round. LMTS and above get separate LLD and HLD rounds with deep dives into distributed transactions and self-healing systems.

All Salesforce system design questions

Questions people ask

How many rounds are in the Salesforce SDE 2 interview?

About 5 interviews after the screening: phone / recruiter screen, online assessment, coding (dsa), low-level design / machine coding, system design (hld), hiring manager.

Is there a system design round for Salesforce SDE 2?

Yes. AMTS and MTS loops are mostly coding plus CS fundamentals. SMTS adds a mixed HLD round. LMTS and above get separate LLD and HLD rounds with deep dives into distributed transactions and self-healing systems.

What coding questions does Salesforce ask at SDE 2?

The same question pool is used across levels; the bar rises with level. Most reported: Trapping Rain Water, Max Stack, Maximum Frequency Stack, Min Stack, Coin Change.

What does Salesforce expect in coding rounds at SDE 2?

Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

SDE 2 interviews at other companies

SDE 2 interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions