Discovery, Inc. Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 48 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Discovery, Inc..
Discovery, Inc.
Software Engineer
Entry Average Negative experience No offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Group Take home Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding Behavioral
I applied for the New Graduate Software Engineer role on 9/8/21. Within a week, I got an invite for a HireVue interview. This HireVue had two parts: 30 minutes of video-recorded behavioral questions and 30 minutes of multiple-choice programming questions. The programming questions were harder than I expected and went deep into data structures and algorithms. No actual people were involved at this stage. About two weeks later, I got an invite for the final round interviews. This round took 2 hours total. It started with a 45-minute group introduction to the new grad program. Then came 60 minutes of two live coding challenges. Finally, there were 30 minutes of behavioral questions. I kept getting told the results would be ready in 'the next few weeks' and they were 'sorry it's taking a while.' In the end, I waited 10 weeks and then got a rejection email.
Confirmed questions1 question
- What are your favorite shows
Discovery, Inc.
Software Engineer
Mid Average Positive experience Decline offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Technical screen Technical screen Technical screen Technical screen
Interview formats
Coding Technical System Design Behavioral
Its a standard interview process with 1 online coding test followed by 3 Technical discussions. For me the process was super fast as i was on notice period and only 3-4 weeks were left. R1 : Online coding test- focused on testing data structure. A descriptive problem has to be model into simpler form making use of array, linkedlist and solving it. R2 : Introduction, discussion about past work, then a problem solving discussion. A problem had to be solved, that included dynamic programming. R3: this discussion was more like one problem solving and one system design with Sr.SDE. Design was abstract for building a scalable system. Had discussion around the mail algo in the system, caching, load balancing, search suggestions etc. (cannot be specific as i signed NDA) R4 - It was mostly focused upon one problem, discussion on scalable distributed system, spring boot framework, solving and general behavioral, checking the design approach, mentoring juniors ability, able to work as individual contributor, curiosity to solve, challenges and willingness. Future plans.
Confirmed questions4 questions
- DS&Algo question with DP
- 3 Problem solving question on arrays and dp, one problem on stack and one on recursion.
- one problem solving on linked list and a scalable system design with multiple variation.
Discovery, Inc.
Senior Software Engineer
Senior Average Negative experience No offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Technical screen Onsite Take home
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral Coding
The interview process involved an initial phone screen, followed by a video chat with a project manager. Then, there was a 4-hour virtual onsite with a mix of technical and behavioral questions. Finally, there were do-at-home exercises. The whole thing took about 6 weeks. After the interviews, HR mentioned I did well and an offer was likely. A week later, I followed up via email. They said they'd reply Monday, but didn't. Tuesday, the recruiting manager said they were finalizing offer details with Finance and a decision would be made Wednesday. No word Wednesday, so I emailed again. Tuesday, the recruiting manager called again saying there's a lot going on and they had two positions for me, but the technical team hadn't decided which one. Thursday, the recruiting manager called again, still deciding. I asked if they were still hiring, and he confirmed they were, for even more positions now, and the team wanted to hire the 'best talent the market can bear'. The following Tuesday, they called to say unfortunately things changed internally and they were no longer hiring for the role. The decision came from above, it wasn't about me, and they had to tell other candidates the same. I'm not sure if their explanation is true, but it felt like a stalling game for about 10 days with misinformation from the recruiting manager, always by phone to avoid a paper trail. Very frustrating and unprofessional.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- How would you design the API for a video uploader?
- Write a function to compress a string.
Discovery, Inc. Software Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Discovery, Inc. interview reports.
“Can you reverse a string using constant time and constant space complexity?”
Read reports →“Will the component prevent state changes if invalid fields exist?”
Read reports →“Can you determine if two rectangular boxes, given their coordinates, overlap?”
Read reports →“Can you explain the difference between let and const in Javascript?”
Read reports →“The form doesn't need to POST anywhere; it should just console log the object with {email, first, last} values and switch to the 'congratulations' state. Is this clear?”
Read report →“Regarding form validation, the Email Address field must be required and a valid email, while the First Name and Last Name fields must be required. Can you implement this validation?”
Read report →“How would you design the API for a video uploader?”
Read report →“Would you please send a Zip file containing your source code, excluding the node_modules folder?”
Read report →“Should a Readme file with instructions for running the application be included?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 48 Discovery, Inc. interview reports.