Canva Backend Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 22 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Canva.
Canva
Senior Backend Engineer
Senior Average Negative experience No offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Phone screen Technical screen Technical screen Technical screen
Interview formats
Coding System Design Behavioral
I had an initial call with the recruiter, then a Computer Science Fundamentals interview. After that, there were four more interviews: Programming Language Fluency, System Design, Technical Review / Communication and Strategy, and Communication & Leadership. I was told my other interviews went well, but I didn't pass the PLF interview. The interviewer said my code worked but was too 'long and complicated.' The question was heavily reliant on collections and I couldn't use the java.util package, so I had to reimplement everything from scratch. I don't understand their expectations given these constraints, and it was disappointing after all the effort.
Confirmed questions3 questions
- Tell me about typical data structure and algorithm questions.
- Can you describe system design questions?
- What kind of behavioral interview questions did you encounter?
Canva
Backend Engineer
Mid Easy Negative experience No offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite Technical screen Presentation Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding System Design Behavioral Coding
So I had this interview with Canva, and honestly, it was a real letdown. The whole thing had three parts. First up was HR, just asking the usual Java stuff like hashcode/equals, inheritance vs. composition, sync/locking, and checked/unchecked exceptions. Pretty standard. Then came a live coding challenge where I had to do a topological sort, which I nailed. The last round though? Man, that was intense. It was a 45-min system design for an e-commerce site, then 45 mins of behavioral questions, and another 45 mins of coding where I had to build HashMap from scratch, no helpers. I felt like I crushed it all. But nope, they passed. The reason they gave? Apparently, I didn't hit all the marks on the system design. Super frustrating because I thought I did well, and the rejection felt unfair after putting in so much effort. It’s a bummer when you do your best and still get cut for a couple of minor things. If you’re interviewing here, just brace yourself, it can be a wild ride.
Confirmed questions8 questions
- HR Screening * 30 mins : Can you explain hashcode and equals?
- Can you explain inheritance vs. composition?
- Can you explain synchronization and locking?
Canva
Backend Engineer
Mid Easy Positive experience Accept offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding System Design Behavioral
HR screen, then a CS fundamentals and language proficiency round, followed by system design and behavioral questions. After that, there's a team match chat with your skip and manager. They always give updates within two days. Passing the language proficiency, system design, and behavioral rounds means it's a definite yes, and the next step is just a relaxed chat to find your ideal team. If the team match doesn't go well, you can still explore other teams.
Confirmed questions3 questions
- Tell me about CS fundamentals and language proficiency, similar to problems you encounter daily.
- Behavioral questions: use STAR style to answer.
- System design: just give your thoughts and reasoning behind.
Canva Backend Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Canva interview reports.
“What is the difference between checked and unchecked exceptions in Java?”
Read reports →“What's the execution time for specific Java code snippets?”
Read reports →“Can you implement Fizz Bang without using division or modulo?”
Read reports →“Could you explain the distinction between Inheritance and Composition in Object-Oriented Programming?”
Read reports →“Could you implement a message queue service using memory and files?”
Read report →“Coding * 45 mins : Can you write the HashMap functions from scratch without utilizing any utility functions?”
Read report →“Can you elaborate on the differences between inheritance and composition?”
Read report →“Could you explain the reasons for overriding the equals method?”
Read report →“Java live coding DS & Algo * 1 hr : Could you implement a topological sort algorithm?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 22 Canva interview reports.