Senior Software Engineer - Front End Interview Experience - Los Gatos, California
March 1, 2018
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
Approached by a recruiter, then two phone screenings with the hiring manager and a team member. A technical assignment (6-8 hours of work) followed by an onsite interview.
The onsite consisted of 6 parts: 3 technical, 1 culture fit, 1 team fit, and a team lunch.
Overall, a positive experience. A detailed rejection was delivered via phone call, which was very much appreciated.
Key takeaways for candidates:
- Realize that it's the candidate's responsibility to manage interview time. (~45 minutes can be very short; ensure you have time for your questions).
- Answer as deeply as possible until the interviewer wants to move to another question. Otherwise, you risk appearing shallow (concise answers are bad).
- Make sure to show your technical communication style (how to convince a team of an XYZ technology; you'll be tested on that).
- Ensure you review the technical assignment submission before the interview so you're able to discuss it deeply.
Feedback for Netflix:
The onsite interview was very long with no breaks. Perhaps adding some substantial breaks (> 10 minutes) to walk around campus would help candidates, especially after a long morning commute from San Francisco and after lunch.
Questions
technical discussions
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Netflix Senior Software Engineer - Front End role in Los Gatos, California.
Success Rate
0%
Pass Rate
Netflix's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer - Front End roles in Los Gatos, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive100%
Neutral0%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Netflix's Senior Software Engineer - Front End interview process in Los Gatos, California.
Netflix Work Experiences
5.0
Short but sweet
Senior Software Engineer • Former Employee
Los Gatos, California, United States
September 13, 2023
Pros: Netflix has great salary and benefits. There are teams of people available to help with any questions, and their tech support is tops.
Cons: I worked for another company owned by Netflix, so I didn't really experience any negatives.
2.0
Boring, Good Work-life Balance
Senior Site Reliability Engineer • Former Employee
Los Gatos, California, United States
September 17, 2020
Pros: Everyone had a good work/life balance.
Cons: There really wasn't anything bad about Netflix; it was a little boring.
3.0
One of the best companies to work for, one of the worst companies to work for
Senior Software Engineer • Former Employee
Los Gatos, California, United States
August 11, 2017
Pros: Great base pay.
Some of the engineers are really smart and know what they are doing.
Free food and a well-stocked kitchen.
Good benefits, including unlimited vacation.
Stock is doing great!
Hackday is always great and something to look forward to.
Cons: - Innovation is dying at this company. If you compare what the product was in 2011 versus now, they are mostly playing with video playback in the UI and minor features. This is probably because everyone wants to keep their job and have as many projects to continue.
- The company does a lot of A/B testing, even for minor text changes. I'm glad they are not in the hardware business, else they would have ruined the company. The product team seems good, but I'm not sure if they know what is right and don't have a gut feeling on anything.
- Engineering teams compete with each other to build tools. Sometimes the work done for nine months is thrown away because another team built a tool with cutting-edge technology.
- Freedom and responsibility exist, but it all depends on your leader and how much they allow you to exercise it.
- NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome within teams.
- Managers are sometimes a pain and always want to build their 'own' team with 'own' people, which discourages existing teams.
- If you are looking for growth in the team, be careful of which team you are joining.
- Favoritism exists. If a manager is really bad with employees but good with their boss, they will get promoted. 360 reviews only matter from peers and not from whom you manage.
- You can't raise questions on why we are doing this. If you are not aligned with the manager's vision, sorry, but you will get axed soon based on grounds of technical incompetency.
- They try lots of recommendation A/B tests and merch logic, but they are not sure if people will watch the title or not.
Ultimately, they need to realize they are a streaming company which has value in only one thing: Content. If you build a great product but the content is not effective, you are relying on the product and not the content to sell. If rivals catch up on the product, it's an issue.
- 5.0Short but sweetSenior Software Engineer • Former EmployeeLos Gatos, California, United StatesSeptember 13, 2023Pros: Netflix has great salary and benefits. There are teams of people available to help with any questions, and their tech support is tops.Cons: I worked for another company owned by Netflix, so I didn't really experience any negatives.
- 2.0Boring, Good Work-life BalanceSenior Site Reliability Engineer • Former EmployeeLos Gatos, California, United StatesSeptember 17, 2020Pros: Everyone had a good work/life balance.Cons: There really wasn't anything bad about Netflix; it was a little boring.
- 3.0One of the best companies to work for, one of the worst companies to work forSenior Software Engineer • Former EmployeeLos Gatos, California, United StatesAugust 11, 2017Pros: Great base pay. Some of the engineers are really smart and know what they are doing. Free food and a well-stocked kitchen. Good benefits, including unlimited vacation. Stock is doing great! Hackday is always great and something to look forward to.Cons: - Innovation is dying at this company. If you compare what the product was in 2011 versus now, they are mostly playing with video playback in the UI and minor features. This is probably because everyone wants to keep their job and have as many projects to continue. - The company does a lot of A/B testing, even for minor text changes. I'm glad they are not in the hardware business, else they would have ruined the company. The product team seems good, but I'm not sure if they know what is right and don't have a gut feeling on anything. - Engineering teams compete with each other to build tools. Sometimes the work done for nine months is thrown away because another team built a tool with cutting-edge technology. - Freedom and responsibility exist, but it all depends on your leader and how much they allow you to exercise it. - NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome within teams. - Managers are sometimes a pain and always want to build their 'own' team with 'own' people, which discourages existing teams. - If you are looking for growth in the team, be careful of which team you are joining. - Favoritism exists. If a manager is really bad with employees but good with their boss, they will get promoted. 360 reviews only matter from peers and not from whom you manage. - You can't raise questions on why we are doing this. If you are not aligned with the manager's vision, sorry, but you will get axed soon based on grounds of technical incompetency. - They try lots of recommendation A/B tests and merch logic, but they are not sure if people will watch the title or not. Ultimately, they need to realize they are a streaming company which has value in only one thing: Content. If you build a great product but the content is not effective, you are relying on the product and not the content to sell. If rivals catch up on the product, it's an issue.
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