Okta Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 153 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Okta.
Okta
Software Engineer
Mid Average Neutral experience No offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Take home Technical screen Onsite Background check
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Coding System Design
Interviewed in summer 2024. Talked with a screener about the job and role. First stage was a chat with the Hiring Manager about my experience. Second was a homework assignment, creating a backend service based on their requirements; it wasn't complicated but took a lot of time. The 3rd stage involved an architecture decision discussion with an engineer from the target team, also covering basic security topics without going too deep. The 4th and final interview was with the Head of Department or a similar role, with standard behavioral questions and a discussion about my motivation. I didn't pass the last stage, and the reason is unknown. The whole process took about 1.5 months from the first contact to the end. I have a neutral feeling because the last stage felt terrible, the conversation was weird, and after that, I was ghosted on the results, even though they were responsive before.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you explain what Cross-Site Scripting is and describe methods for its prevention?
Okta
Software Engineer
Senior Average Positive experience Accept offer 6 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite Onsite Onsite Background check
Interview formats
Technical Coding Behavioral
The interview process started with an initial phone screen with HR to go over the role and the tech I'm working on. Then there was an initial tech screen with 3 DSA questions (1 LC Easy, 1 LC Medium, 1 LC Hard). After that, there were 3 virtual onsite tech interviews: T1 involved two medium DSA questions. T2 had one Medium DSA and one Medium-Hard DSA Question. T3 was with the Hiring Manager, focusing mostly on my work experience and general behavioral questions. Finally, there was an HR general discussion and a background check.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Questions were based on BFS graph traversal.
Okta
Senior Software Engineer
Senior Average Negative experience No offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Technical screen Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding System Design
The scheduling was really bad, lots of people involved and interviews kept getting moved or canceled. They even did the screening and onsite together once because of miscommunication. It worked out for me because I had another offer, but it showed they weren't organized. The interviews themselves were good though, interviewers were professional and conversations were structured. After finishing all rounds, I didn't hear back even after following up. Almost three weeks later, I got an automated rejection email, like they just rejected my online application, no personalized feedback or acknowledgment of my time. I get not everyone gets picked, but the lack of communication and transparency was disappointing. Candidates put in a lot of time and effort, and a quick, personalized update would be respectful.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- How would you approach Leetcode medium problems?
- Can you describe your approach to API design?
Okta Software Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Okta interview reports.
“Given a list of file names, update any duplicates by appending a sequential number like (1), (2), etc., ensuring all final names are unique. Return the corrected list.”
Read reports →“Write a function that takes a string with alphanumeric characters and parentheses, and returns it with unbalanced parentheses removed.”
Read reports →“Is it possible to reach names in a dictionary from a given name following specific letter change rules, one change at a time?”
Read reports →“We have N books and M students. The number of pages in each book is given in ascending order. Assign books to students such that each student gets consecutive books and the maximum number of pages assigned to a student is minimized. What is the minimum number of pages?”
Read reports →“Is a password valid given these conditions: it must have vowels, no triple consecutive vowels or consonants, and no double consecutive letters, with the exceptions of "ee" and "oo"?”
Read report →“Is it possible to check if an array is in strictly increasing order and can be made so with at most one modification?”
Read report →“Can you get to the names in the dictionary starting from the given name, by applying set instructions on which letter you can change to what, and only changing one letter at a time?”
Read report →“Consider a stream process running on 100 servers; how can we check if that stream can be in increasing order?”
Read report →“Regarding an array of numbers that first increases and then decreases, how would you locate the peak value?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 153 Okta interview reports.