Netflix — Full Stack Engineer ❌ Failed
Level: Senior-Level
Round: Full Journey · Type: Multiple Types · Difficulty: 7/10 · Duration: 210 min · Interviewer: Unfriendly
Topics: Behavioral Questions, Object-Oriented Design, Data Structures, Algorithms, ReactJS, JavaScript, Unit Testing, System Design
Location: Los Gatos, CA
Interview date: 2024-12-15
Got offer: False
Summary
Round 1: HR
Question: General questions about why Netflix and why this group, views on Netflix's culture memo, and technical stack experience.
Round 2: Hiring Manager
Question: Why Netflix, why this group, strengths, what I can bring to the team, and behavioral questions like the most challenging project and conflicts with leadership.
Round 3: Take Home Assignment
Question: Implement a simple ReactJS app to call a public API based on a keyword input and display the results with pagination. Include tests and a readme.
Round 4: Hiring Manager (Virtual Onsite)
Question: More behavioral questions and expectations for the first month if I joined the team.
Round 5: SDE (Virtual Onsite)
Question: Design a Java class to store a list of email and contact information, including nested contacts, and write a function to return the first non-duplicate valid email.
Round 6: PM (Virtual Onsite)
Question: Behavioral questions and Q&A.
Details
Preparation Tips & Key Takeaways
What I Learned
- I should have clarified the input structure more precisely before jumping into the coding implementation.
- Writing comprehensive unit tests, especially for complex scenarios, is crucial but time-consuming.
- Validating inputs is an essential step that should not be overlooked during the coding process.
Recommended Preparation
Coding Practice
- Practice object-oriented design problems with a focus on data structures and algorithms.
- Improve time management skills during coding interviews to ensure sufficient time for testing and validation.
ReactJS
- Thoroughly understand ReactJS concepts and be able to implement a simple app with API calls and pagination.
Behavioral Questions
- Prepare STAR stories for common behavioral questions, such as challenging projects and leadership conflicts.
- Practice discussing expectations for the first month in a new role.
Resources I Recommend
- Review common data structures and algorithms.
- Practice ReactJS app development with API integrations.
- Prepare detailed STAR stories for behavioral questions.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Not clarifying input structure before coding.
- Underestimating the time required for writing comprehensive unit tests.
- Forgetting to validate inputs during the coding process.
The coding question I got was to design a Java class to store a list of email and contact information. The input was structured like this:
json { type: email, value: xxx@xx.com }
There were also nested structures like:
json { type: contact, value: {type: email, value: xxx@xxx.com} }
I needed to design a Java class to save this data and write a function to return the first non-duplicate valid email.
My approach:
- Initially, I misunderstood the input and started parsing a JSON string. The interviewer corrected me, clarifying that the input was already structured.
- I created a simple Node class with a value that could also be a Node, allowing for nested structures. The Node class also had a getEmail function.
- I quickly wrote the code to find the first non-duplicate email and started writing unit tests.
- Due to time constraints, I had to copy and paste to create multiple node instances for the test cases.
- I ran the tests, but one of the test cases failed because I forgot to add email validation. I quickly added the validation and got the expected result.
Key insights:
- Clarify input structures to avoid misunderstandings and wasted time.
- Always include input validation in your code.
- Consider using a factory pattern for creating instances in more complex scenarios.