OpenAI Software Engineer interview questions and process

Updated · 14 sources

Hiring Pulse: where OpenAI candidates are right now

Dated status reports from public Reddit threads and anonymous PortLume reports, updated Oct 18. Not official OpenAI 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: no decisions reported lately

Latest OpenAI hiring reports

Candidates rate the OpenAI Software Engineer interview Hard: Reported loops include multi-round onsites with production-style coding (work queues, DB internals), system design (payments, webhooks, generative-video), a technical presentation, and an unusually hard added Terraform-style round. Reports describe 7 rounds, from Recruiter screen to Additional technical round (e.g. Terraform-like build).

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OpenAI Software Engineer interview rounds

  1. Recruiter screen: Recruiter screen covers background, role fit, and loop logistics; candidates report being told the final round is 2 technical + 1 behavioral.
  2. Technical phone screen (coding + system design)
  3. Virtual onsite: Coding
  4. Virtual onsite: System Design
  5. Virtual onsite: Behavioral / project deep dive
  6. Technical presentation / deep dive
  7. Additional technical round (e.g. Terraform-like build)

Questions reported in OpenAI Software Engineer interviews

  1. Implement a DB: add where clause, order by, delete command (via tombstone, LSM).
  2. Define a templatized iterator supporting suspension and resumption, using TDD.
  3. Design Slack: how to deliver an MVP in 2 weeks, and how to handle message delivery scalability/reliability.

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OpenAI Software Engineer interview: quick answers

How many rounds are in the OpenAI Software Engineer interview?

Public reports describe 7 rounds for the OpenAI Software Engineer interview: (1) Recruiter screen, (2) Technical phone screen, (3) Virtual onsite: Coding, (4) Virtual onsite: System Design, (5) Virtual onsite: Behavioral / project deep dive, (6) Technical presentation / deep dive, (7) Additional technical round.

Is the OpenAI interview difficult?

Public reports put the OpenAI Software Engineer interview at Hard difficulty. Reported loops include multi-round onsites with production-style coding (work queues, DB internals), system design (payments, webhooks, generative-video), a technical presentation, and an unusually hard added Terraform-style round. The process has 7 rounds, from Recruiter screen to Additional technical round.

Does OpenAI ask DSA?

Yes. Rounds that involve coding: Technical phone screen (coding + system design), Virtual onsite: Coding. Production-style coding (data structures, storage internals, concurrency) is among the skills reports mention most. Based on 14 public reports, last updated Sep 2026.

Sources

Based on 14 public reports: YouTube (8), LeetCode Discuss (4), Reddit (2), last updated Sep 2026.

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

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Last round at OpenAI is usually HR: OpenAI HR interview questions and answers.

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