LinkedIn Backend Engineer interview questions and process

Updated 15 Oct 2026 · 13 sources

Hiring Pulse: where LinkedIn candidates are right now

Dated status reports from public Reddit threads and anonymous PortLume reports, updated Oct 17. Not official LinkedIn data.

1 status reports in the last 7 days
Not enough data yet: median from final interview to a decision shows at 5+ people
Latest movement: 4 final rounds, 2 interviews reported since Sep 18

Latest LinkedIn hiring reports

Oct 16: Final round Oct 16 (r/recruitinghell)
Oct 9: Final round Oct 9 (r/developersIndia)
Oct 8: Interview Oct 9 (r/cscareerquestionsIN)
Oct 8: Interview Oct 9 (r/Btechtards)
Sep 30: Final round Sep 30 (r/leetcode)

Candidates rate the LinkedIn Backend Engineer interview Medium-Hard: Reports describe a screening round with two coding questions, further DSA rounds including backtracking, plus system design and a hiring manager round, so the loop is long and covers a lot. Reports describe 6 rounds, from Recruiter call to Hiring manager / host manager round.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Skills asked about: Data structures and algorithms, Recursion and backtracking, Backend system design

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LinkedIn Backend Engineer interview rounds

Recruiter call: Recruiter reaches out and discusses your background and, in some reports, salary expectations. Timing varies: one backend candidate applied in July and heard back in September.
Online assessment
Coding phone screen
DSA onsite round(s)
System design and architecture
Hiring manager / host manager round

Questions reported in LinkedIn Backend Engineer interviews

a string is given like this [1[2,[3,4] ] ] and you need to return the result which is calculated like this 3 1 + 4 1 +2 2 + 1 3 = 14, i.e 1 has multiplication factor(mf) of 3 2 has mf of 2 and (3 and 4?
Round2[DSA] - Q1. it was a backtracking problem , Q2?
A string like [1[2,[3,4]]] is given. Compute the sum where each number is multiplied by its depth weight (deepest level has multiplier 1, so 3*1 + 4*1 + 2*2 + 1*3 = 14), using no extra space beyond the recursion stack.
A backtracking problem in the first DSA round (specific problem not shared).
Find Leaves of Binary Tree (phone screen, Software Engineer - Applications).
Shortest Word Distance II (phone screen, Software Engineer - Applications).

Practise any of these with timed AI feedback and a full LinkedIn mock: free account.

LinkedIn Backend Engineer interview: quick answers

How many rounds are in the LinkedIn Backend Engineer interview?

Public reports describe 6 rounds for the LinkedIn Backend Engineer interview: (1) Recruiter call, (2) Online assessment, (3) Coding phone screen, (4) DSA onsite round, (5) System design and architecture, (6) Hiring manager / host manager round. Based on 13 public reports, last updated Oct 2026.

Is the LinkedIn interview difficult?

Public reports put the LinkedIn Backend Engineer interview at Medium-Hard difficulty. Reports describe a screening round with two coding questions, further DSA rounds including backtracking, plus system design and a hiring manager round, so the loop is long and covers a lot.

Does LinkedIn ask DSA in Backend Engineer interviews?

Yes. Rounds that involve coding: Coding phone screen, DSA onsite round(s). Reported coding questions include "Round2[DSA] - Q1. it was a backtracking problem , Q2" and "A backtracking problem in the first DSA round (specific problem not shared)". Algorithm-heavy coding rounds where interviewers push for optimal space, followed by system design and a project-focused manager conversation.

Sources

Based on 13 public reports: LeetCode Discuss (10), Blind (1), Levels.fyi (1), YouTube (1), last updated Oct 2026.

Compiled by Adarsh Sharma from public candidate reports. Unofficial guide: PortLume AI is not affiliated with LinkedIn.

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