Senior Software Engineer Interview Experience - Los Gatos, California
March 1, 2020
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I was contacted by a recruiter through LinkedIn.
After the first call, they will ask you questions about Netflix culture, so you should read up on it.
Manager call: Questions related to microservices, REST, etc., as well as questions about Netflix culture.
I advanced to the onsite interviews. They moved quickly because they wanted to interview all candidates in the same week.
Onsite:
- Approximately 30 minutes with a recruiter who asked me questions about Netflix culture.
- System design interview.
- Manager interview: Questions about my previous experience and Netflix culture.
- Design a database and REST APIs.
- Coding exercise: This was easy but trivial. Pay attention to the little details and validations. It was NOT a LeetCode-style problem.
- Lunch with the team: Casual conversation.
They might reject you at this point if you are not doing well. I passed to the second part of the interview.
- Recruiter leader: Behavioral questions and more questions about Netflix culture.
- Project manager: Questions about past experience, managing time, completing tasks, and gathering requirements, etc.
- Hiring manager: (I was very tired at this point of the interview) Troubleshooting questions related to servers, REST APIs, and microservices.
COVID quarantine started one week after I attended my onsite interview, and they just ghosted me.
I emailed the recruiter two weeks after my onsite but received no response. It's obvious I didn't pass, but it was very disrespectful that they just ghosted me.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 46 interview experiences for the Netflix Senior Software Engineer role in Los Gatos, California.
Success Rate
22%
Pass Rate
Netflix's interview process for their Senior Software Engineer roles in Los Gatos, California is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive43%
Neutral28%
Negative28%
Candidates reported having good feelings for Netflix's Senior Software Engineer interview process in Los Gatos, California.
Netflix Work Experiences
5.0
Best place to work for great engineers
Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee
Los Gatos, California, United States
October 29, 2013
Pros: It's like working for a very well-funded startup.
If you're good, this company will boost your career lightyears ahead.
Compensation and perks are just right. No lavish lunches, just good organic food to keep you focused on business. No laundry service. It's not taking over your life.
Very fast-growing company. Lots of room to grow and lots of opportunity (if you look).
Visibility - top down, you see everything. There are no secrets in this company. Very helpful if you know how to use this to your advantage.
Cons: If you're not good, you won't survive here.
If you have issues with your people skills, you won't survive here.
If you need hand-holding, someone to constantly point you in the right direction, you'll be directed to the door (while holding your hand).
You'll have to manage your work/life balance. Some people just don't know what 'unlimited vacation' means.
5.0
Great place for highly motivated superstars
Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee
Los Gatos, California, United States
May 14, 2010
Pros: Open book business – nothing is hidden.
If you want to find out something, there are no barriers to reaching out across departments or ranks.
Headcount is low, so the operation is lean and mean.
Great pay.
Cons: If you're not earning your raise, you are on your way to get fired. No cafeteria, but free box lunch.
2.0
Revisiting my review after working here for a while.
There are better, rewarding careers out there
Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee
Los Gatos, California, United States
November 23, 2011
Pros: It's a decent JOB (emphasis on purpose) if you are looking for a heads-down, monotonous coding job.
If you can manage a decent amount of work and the perspective, you will have a stable pay check.
Cons: I was sold on all the culture stuff and drank the Kool-Aid at first. After spending a lot of time at Netflix, my perspective has changed for the worse. What good is the sales pitch if you can't deliver?
Some organizations are terrible (I am not talking about IT/back-office type groups) when it comes to recognizing people, allowing (forget about encouraging) their growth. No career, no recognition. In a way, it's a career dead-end. It's a JOB.
Recent break-neck hiring has brought in a TON of managers (e.g., instead of bringing in 1 project manager, they've hired >1 managers). Believe it or not, it takes 4 times the amount of meetings (compared to 2 years ago at Netflix) to get half of what we used to get done in the same period of time.
Today, all of the talk about culture (except firing people for no good reason), freedom, etc., are just BS.
No family insurance (medical, dental, etc.). The company only pays for the employee, but in reality, they don't care.
- 5.0Best place to work for great engineersSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeLos Gatos, California, United StatesOctober 29, 2013Pros: It's like working for a very well-funded startup. If you're good, this company will boost your career lightyears ahead. Compensation and perks are just right. No lavish lunches, just good organic food to keep you focused on business. No laundry service. It's not taking over your life. Very fast-growing company. Lots of room to grow and lots of opportunity (if you look). Visibility - top down, you see everything. There are no secrets in this company. Very helpful if you know how to use this to your advantage.Cons: If you're not good, you won't survive here. If you have issues with your people skills, you won't survive here. If you need hand-holding, someone to constantly point you in the right direction, you'll be directed to the door (while holding your hand). You'll have to manage your work/life balance. Some people just don't know what 'unlimited vacation' means.
- 5.0Great place for highly motivated superstarsSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeLos Gatos, California, United StatesMay 14, 2010Pros: Open book business – nothing is hidden. If you want to find out something, there are no barriers to reaching out across departments or ranks. Headcount is low, so the operation is lean and mean. Great pay.Cons: If you're not earning your raise, you are on your way to get fired. No cafeteria, but free box lunch.
- 2.0Revisiting my review after working here for a while. There are better, rewarding careers out thereSenior Software Engineer • Current EmployeeLos Gatos, California, United StatesNovember 23, 2011Pros: It's a decent JOB (emphasis on purpose) if you are looking for a heads-down, monotonous coding job. If you can manage a decent amount of work and the perspective, you will have a stable pay check.Cons: I was sold on all the culture stuff and drank the Kool-Aid at first. After spending a lot of time at Netflix, my perspective has changed for the worse. What good is the sales pitch if you can't deliver? Some organizations are terrible (I am not talking about IT/back-office type groups) when it comes to recognizing people, allowing (forget about encouraging) their growth. No career, no recognition. In a way, it's a career dead-end. It's a JOB. Recent break-neck hiring has brought in a TON of managers (e.g., instead of bringing in 1 project manager, they've hired >1 managers). Believe it or not, it takes 4 times the amount of meetings (compared to 2 years ago at Netflix) to get half of what we used to get done in the same period of time. Today, all of the talk about culture (except firing people for no good reason), freedom, etc., are just BS. No family insurance (medical, dental, etc.). The company only pays for the employee, but in reality, they don't care.
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