# Software Engineer
**Role:** Software Engineer · **Level:** L5
**Company:** [Notion](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/notion)
**Difficulty:** Hard
**Salary:** US$140000 - US$180000
**Experience:** 5 - 8
**Timeline:** ~14 days
The Software Engineer L5 interview at Notion is a comprehensive process designed to assess a candidate's technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, system design skills, and cultural fit. It typically involves multiple rounds, including technical interviews, a system design interview, and behavioral interviews.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/notion/l5-software-engineer
---
## Overall evaluation

- Technical Skills
- Communication & Collaboration
- Behavioral & Cultural Fit

## Questions asked

- Given a binary tree, find the lowest common ancestor of two given nodes in the tree.
- Design a system to store and retrieve user preferences for a web application.
- How would you design a rate limiter for an API?
- Describe a time you disagreed with a teammate or manager. How did you handle it?
- What are the trade-offs between SQL and NoSQL databases?
- How would you optimize the performance of a slow database query?
- Explain the concept of eventual consistency.
- Tell me about a project you are particularly proud of.
- How do you stay up-to-date with new technologies?
- What are your thoughts on microservices vs. monolithic architectures?

## Preparation tips

### lists

- Review fundamental data structures and algorithms.
- Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or Coderbyte.
- Study system design principles and common architectural patterns.
- Understand distributed systems concepts, including concurrency, consistency, and fault tolerance.
- Prepare for behavioral questions by reflecting on your past experiences using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
- Research Notion's products, values, and engineering culture.
- Practice explaining your thought process clearly and concisely.
- Prepare questions to ask the interviewer about the role, team, and company.

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Data Structures and Algorithms","longDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash maps) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, graph traversal). Practice implementing these in your preferred language and analyze their time and space complexity. Solve at least 20-30 problems related to these topics.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Algorithms fundamentals. Practice 20-30 problems."}
- {"title":"System Design","longDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Dive into system design. Study concepts like scalability, availability, reliability, load balancing, caching, databases (SQL vs. NoSQL), message queues, and microservices. Work through common system design case studies (e.g., designing Twitter feed, URL shortener, chat system).","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: System Design principles and case studies."}
- {"title":"Behavioral Interview Preparation","longDescription":"Week 5: Prepare for behavioral interviews. Reflect on your past projects and experiences, identifying examples that demonstrate leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, and handling challenges. Use the STAR method to structure your answers. Research Notion's values and prepare to align your experiences with them.","shortDescription":"Week 5: Behavioral interview preparation using STAR method. Research Notion's values."}
- {"title":"Mock Interviews and Review","longDescription":"Week 6: Mock interviews. Conduct mock interviews with peers or mentors, focusing on both technical and behavioral aspects. Get feedback on your communication, problem-solving approach, and overall presentation. Review any areas where you felt weak during the mock interviews.","shortDescription":"Week 6: Mock interviews and feedback. Review weak areas."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"San Francisco","differences":{"tips":["Familiarize yourself with Notion's core features and architecture.","Be prepared to discuss your experience with real-time systems and collaborative tools.","Practice explaining complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner.","Research common challenges in building collaborative software and how to address them.","Highlight projects where you've demonstrated strong ownership and impact."],"interviewFocus":["Deep understanding of distributed systems and concurrency control.","Experience with building and scaling collaborative applications.","Proficiency in data modeling and database optimization.","Strong problem-solving and debugging skills in complex environments.","Ability to articulate technical decisions and trade-offs clearly."],"commonQuestions":["How would you design a real-time collaboration feature for Notion?","Discuss the trade-offs of using different database technologies for Notion's data storage.","How do you ensure data consistency across multiple users in a collaborative environment?","Describe a challenging debugging experience you had and how you resolved it.","How do you approach performance optimization for a large-scale application like Notion?"]}}
- {"location":"Remote","differences":{"tips":["Understand Notion's global presence and the technical challenges associated with it.","Be ready to discuss your experience with cloud platforms and DevOps practices.","Showcase your ability to work effectively in a remote or distributed team environment.","Prepare examples of how you've contributed to improving team processes and productivity.","Emphasize your understanding of user experience and its impact on technical decisions."],"interviewFocus":["Experience with cloud-native architectures (AWS, GCP, Azure).","Understanding of CI/CD pipelines and automated testing.","Ability to manage and optimize infrastructure for scalability and cost-efficiency.","Strong communication and collaboration skills.","Experience in leading technical initiatives and mentoring teams."],"commonQuestions":["How would you design a system to handle a large volume of user-generated content?","Discuss your experience with cloud infrastructure and deployment strategies for web applications.","How do you approach testing and quality assurance for a product with a global user base?","Describe a time you had to adapt to a rapidly changing technical landscape.","What are your strategies for mentoring junior engineers?"]}}

## Round 1: Coding Challenge
**Type:** Technical Interview (Coding) · **Difficulty:** Hard · **Duration:** 60 min
Assess coding proficiency with data structures and algorithms.
This round focuses on your fundamental programming skills. You will be asked to solve one or two coding problems, typically involving data structures and algorithms. The interviewer will assess your ability to understand the problem, devise an efficient solution, write clean code, and explain your thought process. Expect questions that test your knowledge of arrays, strings, linked lists, trees, graphs, sorting, searching, and dynamic programming.
**Interviewers look for:** Strong grasp of data structures and algorithms.; Ability to write clean, efficient, and bug-free code.; Problem-solving skills and logical thinking.; Clear communication of approach and trade-offs.
**Evaluation criteria:** Correctness of the solution.; Efficiency of the solution (time and space complexity).; Clarity and readability of the code.; Ability to handle edge cases and constraints.; Communication of the thought process.
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to solve coding problems efficiently.; Poor understanding of fundamental data structures and algorithms.; Suboptimal time or space complexity in solutions.; Difficulty in explaining the thought process.; Lack of attention to edge cases or constraints.
## Questions

- Given an array of integers, return indices of the two numbers such that they add up to a specific target.
- Implement a function to reverse a linked list.
- Find the kth smallest element in a Binary Search Tree.

## Preparation tips

- Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode.
- Understand the time and space complexity of your solutions.
- Be prepared to explain your approach and justify your choices.
- Practice writing code on a whiteboard or in a shared editor.

## Round 2: System Design
**Type:** System Design Interview · **Difficulty:** Hard · **Duration:** 60 min
Assess ability to design scalable and robust software systems.
This round evaluates your ability to design and architect software systems. You will be presented with a high-level problem (e.g., design a URL shortener, a social media feed, or a real-time chat application) and expected to design a system that meets the requirements. The focus is on scalability, reliability, performance, and trade-offs. You should be prepared to discuss database choices, API design, caching strategies, load balancing, and potential bottlenecks.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to design complex, scalable, and reliable systems.; Deep understanding of distributed systems principles.; Proficiency in choosing appropriate technologies and patterns.; Ability to think critically about trade-offs and potential issues.; Clear communication of design decisions.
**Evaluation criteria:** System design and architecture.; Scalability and performance considerations.; Reliability and fault tolerance.; Trade-off analysis.; Clarity of explanation and justification of design choices.
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to design a scalable and robust system.; Lack of understanding of distributed systems concepts.; Poor consideration of trade-offs and failure scenarios.; Difficulty in articulating design choices.; Not addressing key requirements of the problem.
## Questions

- Design a system like Twitter's news feed.
- Design a URL shortening service.
- How would you design a real-time notification system?

## Preparation tips

- Study common system design patterns and architectures.
- Practice designing various systems, considering different requirements.
- Be prepared to discuss trade-offs between different design choices.
- Think about scalability, availability, and maintainability.
- Understand how to handle failures and ensure data consistency.

## Round 3: Behavioral and Cultural Fit
**Type:** Behavioral Interview · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
Assess behavioral competencies and cultural fit.
This round focuses on your past experiences and how they relate to the role and Notion's culture. You'll be asked behavioral questions designed to understand your work style, problem-solving approach in real-world scenarios, teamwork abilities, and how you handle challenges. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to provide clear and concise answers backed by specific examples.
**Interviewers look for:** Evidence of collaboration and teamwork.; Examples of leadership and initiative.; Ability to handle challenging situations and learn from mistakes.; Alignment with Notion's mission and values.; Strong communication skills and positive attitude.
**Evaluation criteria:** Behavioral competencies (teamwork, leadership, problem-solving).; Cultural fit with Notion's values.; Communication and interpersonal skills.; Self-awareness and reflection.; Motivation and passion for the role and company.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of alignment with company values.; Poor communication or interpersonal skills.; Inability to provide specific examples of past behavior.; Negative attitude or lack of enthusiasm.; Not demonstrating ownership or initiative.
## Questions

- Tell me about a time you faced a significant technical challenge and how you overcame it.
- Describe a situation where you had to work with a difficult colleague. How did you handle it?
- How do you prioritize your work when you have multiple competing deadlines?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare examples using the STAR method for common behavioral questions.
- Reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, and career goals.
- Research Notion's company culture and values.
- Be ready to discuss your motivations for applying to Notion.
- Show enthusiasm and genuine interest in the role.

## Round 4: Hiring Manager Discussion
**Type:** Managerial Interview · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
Final discussion with the hiring manager about role fit and team dynamics.
This final round is typically with the hiring manager. It's an opportunity to discuss your experience in more detail, understand the team's specific needs and projects, and assess your overall fit for the role and team dynamics. The hiring manager will also evaluate your career aspirations and how they align with opportunities at Notion.
**Interviewers look for:** Relevant technical experience for the team's projects.; Ability to integrate into the team and contribute effectively.; Proactive approach to problem-solving within a team.; Good communication and collaboration skills.; Genuine interest in the team's mission.
**Evaluation criteria:** Technical depth and experience relevant to the team's work.; Teamwork and collaboration potential.; Alignment with team goals and projects.; Communication and interpersonal skills within a team context.; Enthusiasm for the specific role and team's challenges.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of alignment with the team's technical direction.; Poor fit with the team's working style.; Inability to answer questions about specific projects or technologies.; Lack of enthusiasm for the team's work.; Not asking thoughtful questions about the team.
## Questions

- What are your thoughts on the current architecture of our collaboration features?
- How would you approach mentoring a junior engineer on our team?
- What are your long-term career goals, and how does this role fit into them?

## Preparation tips

- Be prepared to discuss your resume and past projects in detail.
- Understand the specific technologies and challenges the team is working on.
- Ask insightful questions about the team's roadmap, culture, and challenges.
- Clearly articulate how your skills and experience can benefit the team.
- Showcase your enthusiasm for the role and your potential contributions.