Akamai software engineer interviews combine an online assessment, technical rounds on DSA, SQL, Linux and networking, and resume-based conversations that probe your projects. Here is how the reported stages fit and what to prepare.
$126K
Avg. Base Comp
$172K
Avg. Total Comp
Not reported
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Akamai's software engineer interviews lean toward fundamentals and your own work rather than hard puzzles. The thread that shows up most is Linux, networking and database basics: candidates recall questions on Linux commands, IP addresses and DNS, and SQL queries with joins and aggregations, plus indexing. One candidate recommended reviewing networking basics like TCP versus UDP, along with Python string and dictionary questions.
Coding is part of the loop, but the problems tend to be easy to medium. People describe an array question, an arrays-and-hash-map problem with follow-ups on time and space complexity, edge cases and optimization, and a graph problem that took one candidate extra time. The language depends on the candidate. One worked through live Python exercises and explained their approach on the spot. Another fielded Java OOP, Collections, multithreading, exception handling and Spring Boot questions.
Expect to defend your resume and projects in detail. Interviewers asked why a candidate chose MongoDB, how they implemented authentication and authorization, what challenges they faced, what design decisions they made and how they handled production issues. One candidate was asked to present a project and answer logical questions about servers, so practice explaining your work clearly and concisely.
Some processes start with an online assessment. Reported formats include MCQs on DSA, Linux, networking, OS and DBMS, and, in a campus drive, an OOP exercise plus SQL queries. Broader fundamentals also surfaced: LIFO and FIFO structures with real use cases, polymorphism, Docker containers and authentication versus authorization. One candidate reached a resume-based manager round after the technical interview. Several candidates did not receive an offer, so treat the bar as real even though the difficulty felt moderate.
Synthesized from 26 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Akamai process.
The recruiter reached out to me directly and scheduled each round based on feedback from the previous one, so the process moved at its own pace rather than as a fixed sequence. The first round combined a HackerRank assessment with face-to-face LeetCode-style problems at easy to medium difficulty, along with questions on Java fundamentals. If you're comfortable with the basics of the language and have done steady practice on easier problems, this round should feel manageable.
The second round was in person and opened with a discussion of my current work. Treat that part as a real technical conversation, because the interviewers wanted to understand the systems I had built and the decisions behind them. The rest of the round covered data structures, machine coding and low-level design, and backend concepts.
The third round was managerial. It mixed behavioral questions with technical ones and included a puzzle, so it tested how clearly I could communicate and reason through an unfamiliar problem, not only whether I knew the answer. I received an offer at the end of the process but ended up declining it.
Prep tip from this candidate
Prepare Java fundamentals alongside easy-to-medium LeetCode problems, and be ready to walk through your current work in depth in round two, since that discussion came before the data structures, low-level design, and backend questions.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Akamai
Given two sorted lists, write a function to merge them into one sorted list.
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Skyscanner Partner ETL | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Target Indices | |
| Portfolio Platform Architecture | |
| Seller Type Modeling | |
| Three Indexes Adding Zero | |
| Blob Indexing | |
| Variate Anomalies | |
| Text Editor With OOP | |
| LRU Cache 1 | |
| Weighted Keys | |
| Longest Increasing Subsequence | |
| Flatten N-Dimensional Array to 1D Array | |
| Complete Addresses | |
| Centralized Event Ingestion | |
| Common Prefix | |
| Count Transactions | |
| Second Longest Flight | |
| Stranded Capacity | |
| Smart Fitness Tracker Launch | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Your Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| Decreasing Payments | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Top Three Salaries |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Some candidates took a test before any interview. One assessment had MCQs on DSA, Linux, networking, OS and DBMS. In a campus drive, the test followed a short presentation and mixed MCQs on machine learning, OS, computer networks and DBMS with an OOP exercise and two SQL queries. The shortlist came out the same day.
Coding is usually easy to medium. Reported problems include an array question, an arrays-and-hash-map problem with complexity and edge-case follow-ups, a graph problem and live Python exercises. Fundamentals come up often, including SQL joins and aggregations, indexing, Linux commands, DNS, IP addresses, Docker containers and polymorphism. One candidate also got Java OOP, multithreading and Spring Boot questions.
Interviewers dig into your resume projects. They ask why you chose particular technologies, how you implemented features like authentication and authorization, what challenges you faced and how you handled production issues. One candidate was asked to present a project and answer logical questions about servers.
One candidate moved to a manager round after the first technical interview. It was based on the resume and was more conversational than the coding round. It still checked depth and whether the candidate could explain their experience clearly. The same candidate's process listed an HR round afterward, but they did not advance to it.
