Getting hired as a software engineer at Netflix is no easy feat. Netflix hires some of the best engineers because it cares a lot about culture and cutting edge technology. So it’s no surprise that their interview process is notoriously rigorous.
But with the right preparation, you can ace your Netflix software engineering interview. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know, from Netflix’s unique culture to specific technical and behavioral interview questions. Let’s get started!
An Inside Look at Netflix’s Engineering Culture
Netflix is proud of its fast-paced, high-performance culture, which is very different from the typical workplace. Here are some of their core cultural values:
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Freedom and Responsibility: Engineers have the autonomy to make decisions that improve the customer experience. There’s minimal process and politics.
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Context Not Control Managers provide context about the business goals. But they don’t micromanage how engineers work.
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Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled: Small self-organizing teams focus on common goals while working independently.
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Pay Top of Market Netflix pays top engineers very well, with salaries at the 90th percentile. High performers get rewarded
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Promotions and Development Opportunities for career development are abundant for strong performers
Clearly, Netflix offers a workplace optimized for innovation. But that also means the expectations are sky-high for collaborating, taking initiative, and delivering results.
What to Expect in the Interview Process
Netflix’s software engineering interviews assess both your technical competence and your cultural fit. Here are the key steps:
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Recruiter Screen: The initial call focuses on your experience and salary expectations. Be prepared to discuss your projects and accomplishments.
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Technical Phone Screen: You’ll be asked questions on data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented design. Communicate your thought process clearly.
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On-site Interviews: Expect 4-5 interviews over 4-5 hours on-site. You’ll be assessed for technical skills, leadership abilities, and collaboration style.
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Director Interview: The on-site interview culminates with an interview with an engineering director to evaluate your leadership potential.
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Offer Decision: Netflix will inform you of the final offer decision within a week of your on-site interview. Be sure to send a thank you note to your interviewers.
Technical Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
You’ll need to demonstrate strong computer science fundamentals and coding skills to pass Netflix’s technical interviews. Here are some examples of questions you may encounter:
Data Structures and Algorithms
Q: Reverse a linked list iteratively and recursively.
A: Walk through the linked list to track the previous and current nodes. Reverse the current node’s pointer to point to the previous before moving next. Recursively call the reverse function on the rest of the list.
Q: Find the shortest path between two nodes in an unweighted graph.
A: Use breadth-first search, enqueueing neighbors, to find the shortest path by hop count. Stop when we reach the target.
Q: Scale an application to handle increased load.
A: Distribute load with load balancers. Split database into master-slave replicas. Add caches to reduce database load. Horizontally scale by adding nodes.
Object-Oriented Design and Architecture
Q: Design a parking lot system.
A: Have classes for ParkingLot, Level, ParkingSpot. Methods to park, unpark, find available spots. Use enums for types of vehicles. Implement spot selection algorithms.
Q: Design Netflix’s video streaming service.
A: Have Video, VideoEncoder, CDN and VideoPlayer classes. CDN stores videos on distributed servers. VideoPlayer downloads and buffers video chunks as needed.
Q: Design an API rate limiter.
A: Use a counter and timestamp per API key to limit requests per window. Reset counters on expiry. Return error code once limit exceeded.
Coding Practice
Q: Print all permutations of a string recursively.
A: Generate permutations by swapping each char with every other char in the remainder of the string in the recursive call.
Q: Implement a LRU cache.
A: Use hashmap to map key to node in doubly linked list. On get, move node to front. On put of full cache, remove end node.
Q: Reverse words in a sentence.
A: Split string to words. Reverse entire array. Join back to string.
The key is to verbally communicate your thought process and design approach, even if you don’t remember the optimal code syntax. Demonstrating analytical thinking is what matters most.
Mastering the Behavioral Interview
While Netflix evaluates technical skills, they hire based on cultural fit. Expect behavioral questions aimed at determining if you’ll thrive in their high-performance culture.
Q: Tell me about a time you took initiative to solve a problem.
A: Provide an example from a previous job where you proactively fixed an issue, analyzed the root cause, and implemented a solution. Emphasize driving results.
Q: How do you prioritize work when everything is high priority?
A: Explain how you evaluate importance and urgency to prioritize effectively. Discuss collaborating with stakeholders and setting realistic expectations.
Q: Describe a disagreement you had with teammates. How was it resolved?
A: Share a constructive disagreement focused on product or design choices. Emphasize logical debate based on facts. Outline how you reached a compromise.
Q: Why do you want to work at Netflix?
A: Show you understand their culture. Appreciate their product-driven focus and innovative engineering. Look for opportunities to grow and make an impact.
The key is to demonstrate you are independent, pragmatic, and a team player who will thrive in Netflix’s high-performance, autonomous culture.
How to Prepare and Practice
Preparing for Netflix’s rigorous interviews takes time and dedication. Here are some tips:
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Study computer science fundamentals – Review algorithms, data structures, design patterns and architecture. Master topics like distributed systems.
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Practice mock interviews – Do mock interviews to get comfortable explaining your thinking and coding out loud. Receive feedback on areas to improve.
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Work through problems – LeetCode, HackerRank and project Euler are great resources to practice coding problems similar to those asked.
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Review your experiences – Reflect on your projects, challenges faced and team collaborations. Have stories ready to describe your skills.
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Research Netflix products/culture – Understand how Netflix develops innovative products by embracing creativity. Their culture values high performance over procedures.
With the right combination of technical excellence, problem-solving skills and cultural fit, you can land your dream job at Netflix. Stay confident and be yourself. You’ve got this!
Netflix coding interview preparation resources
We’ve put together a lot of helpful Netflix content for you, including replays of candidates doing mock interviews with Netflix interviewers, in-depth answers to common Netflix interview questions, and videos that go over technical topics that come up in Netflix interviews.
Below are a series of mock interview replays, conducted by Netflix interviewers on our platform. Watch them so you can learn from others’ mistakes.
Netflix’s interview process and questions
Netflix’s interview process consists of the following steps:
- Recruiter call
- Hiring manager screen
- Technical phone interview
- A very long onsite
Before we get into the specifics of each step, let’s talk about Netflix’s process, how they choose candidates, and the people they talk to.
Every human organization sees itself as a metaphor. For example, some tech companies see Netflix as a family, but Netflix sees itself as a high-level sports team—they even call their employees a “dream team”—and they treat themselves as such. They explain this metaphor themselves in their infamous culture memo.
Finally, Netflix’s interview process is decentralized and team-dependent. You can also interview with more than one team at Netflix at the same time, which can improve your chances of getting hired.
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