New Relic Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So I interviewed for a senior role, and the first parts with HR and the Hiring Manager were pretty good, you know, respectful and all. But man, the rest was a letdown. The technical part was all about memorizing data structure names instead of seeing if I could actually solve problems like an engineer. I even mentioned how in a real job, I'd look up the exact Java APIs, which is what you actually do, but they kinda dinged me for it. They said 'good job' during the interview, so the final feedback was weird. They didn't make it clear what they wanted. For system design, I went over a bunch of different ways to do it and the pros and cons, but it turns out they just wanted one specific answer. It felt like they wanted rote answers, not actual experience or clear thinking or making real-world decisions. It's a shame, I hope they fix it to be more realistic and better for senior engineers.

The whole interview process at New Relic was pretty good. It started with an online test at our college with MCQs on technical stuff, some aptitude questions, and three DSA problems. Then, the students who passed that got invited for Technical Interview 1. The first technical interview was chill, the interviewer was super friendly and nice, making me feel really comfortable. It was mostly about Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA). They asked me about stack implementation, a dynamic programming problem like Longest Common Subsequence, and also some questions on Operating Systems (OS), Object-Oriented Programming (OOPS), and Computer Networks (CN). The interviewer also asked follow-up questions which made it engaging. After clearing that, I got to Technical Interview 2. The second interviewer was also really kind and encouraging, helping me stay calm. This one was all about my resume – we went deep into my projects, certifications, and previous internship. After I passed that, I had the HR interview. The HR round was mainly about my communication skills and personality, asking casual questions about my life and interests. It was a friendly chat. Finally, they told me I got selected. All four rounds (Online Test, Tech 1, Tech 2, and HR) happened on the same day, and the whole thing was smooth, organized, and felt supportive. The interviewers made it enjoyable and not stressful at all.

I had a great time interviewing, though I didn't get an offer. The job was quite specialized, needing both Java skills and experience managing Kafka in production. I'd only done Java backend and client-side Kafka, not infrastructure management. But the Engineering Manager, David, told me to go for it. The interview process was super quick and awesome. It started with an HR screen, then a background check with the EM. After that, there was a live Java coding session, a Kafka theory discussion, and a final behavioral interview. I did alright on the coding, but struggled a bit with Coderpad. The Kafka part was all theory; I studied hard all weekend and think I showed I understood the concepts, even if I lacked hands-on experience. The behavioral interview felt really casual, like talking to a friend. The people were genuinely nice and friendly throughout. Even without an offer, Javier, the recruiter, gave me detailed feedback, which was really helpful. Javier was super professional and guided me through the whole thing.