CNN Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 11 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at CNN.
CNN
Software Engineer
Senior Average Positive experience No offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding Behavioral System Design Other
The interview process started with a recruiter call. Then there was a technical screen with a staff and two senior engineers, focusing on resume discussion and two easy LeetCode questions. The final round involved the hiring manager, a dev ops engineer, and a staff & senior engineer (who were shadowing). The hiring manager led a resume discussion and posed a LeetCode-style/math brainteaser without coding. The dev ops engineer reviewed and discussed improvements for some provided bad code (focusing on SRP, formatting) and then talked about CI/CD. The last interview was a system design question, which was manageable if you're familiar with common system design resources. The team seemed great and had interesting projects.
Confirmed questions5 questions
- Can you solve two easy LeetCode string manipulation problems?
- How would you improve this badly written code, considering principles like SRP and formatting?
- What are your thoughts on CI/CD practices?
CNN
Software Engineer
Entry Easy Negative experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical
I met the recruiter and employees at an event through Power to Fly. The event was awesome and I got a LinkedIn message from the recruiter to set up a time and day to talk. I responded back but didn't hear back until a couple of weeks later. The phone interview seemed to go well and I was told by the recruiter that she would forward my information over to the hiring manager. I messaged her a few times on LinkedIn to check on the status but never heard back from her again.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Could you tell me about your experience and the technologies you currently use?
CNN
Software Engineer Intern
Intern Average Positive experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Technical screen Recruiter call
Interview formats
Technical Coding Behavioral
The interview process has two rounds. First is an Online Technical Interview, which is basically to check if you can solve problems, think with algorithms, and know your tech stuff. This means they'll give you coding problems about data structures and algorithms like arrays, strings, trees, etc. They'll also ask you about JavaScript stuff like closures, async programming, event loop, scopes, hoisting, ES6+, and design patterns. Then, there's Node.js where they want to know if you get event-driven architecture, middleware, Express.js, RESTful APIs, async ops, and modules. Databases are also in, covering SQL and NoSQL, like schema, normalization, indexing, joins, transactions, and optimizing queries. Round 2 is an HR Interview, mostly to see your personality, how you talk, and if you'll fit in.
Confirmed questions5 questions
- Can you tell us about your experience with Javascript and React?
- Tell me about your understanding of Javascript concepts such as closures, asynchronous programming (callbacks, promises, async/await), event loop, scopes, hoisting, ES6+ features, and design patterns.
- Describe your knowledge of Node.js, including event-driven architecture, middleware, the Express.js framework, RESTful APIs, asynchronous operations, and commonly used Node.js modules.
CNN Software Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from CNN interview reports.
“Can you explain why keys are important when rendering lists in React?”
Read reports →“Solve an algorithm problem using JavaScript.”
Read reports →“Can you explain the time and space complexity of an algorithm?”
Read reports →“Solve this brainteaser, similar to LeetCode but focused on math/logic without coding.”
Read reports →“How would you improve this badly written code, considering principles like SRP and formatting?”
Read report →“Can you solve two easy LeetCode string manipulation problems?”
Read report →“What's your approach to organizing Redux code?”
Read report →“In your opinion, when programming, which is more important: optimization or readability?”
Read report →“What are your thoughts on CI/CD practices?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 11 CNN interview reports.