Cloudera software engineer candidates report three to four stages: an online assessment with coding and SQL, design or low-level design, and a managerial round. Here is what each report says and how to prepare.
$153K
Avg. Base Comp
$240K
Avg. Total Comp
3-4 rounds
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Candidates describe a Cloudera software engineer loop built around a timed coding assessment, a design-style round, and a managerial conversation. Reports come from three people at different levels, so treat the details as individual experiences rather than one fixed format.
The most detailed account is an offer. That candidate had a 75-minute online assessment with two data structures and algorithms problems and one SQL question, which asked for the second highest price from a products table while handling duplicates. They then had an in-person day with a low-level design round on a metadata tracking system and a coding round on implementing an iterator with arrays. They said the interviewers were friendly and that the questions felt tied to real work.
A candidate for an associate-level role reports two technical rounds and a managerial round. The technical questions covered data structures and algorithms, UNIX concepts, and inter-process communication without sockets, plus a detailed walkthrough of resume projects. That candidate had no offer and described repeated rescheduling and no follow-up after the managerial round.
A staff-level candidate reports an HR screen, an online technical assessment, system design, and a managerial interview. They were asked how threads and processes differ, and they were rejected without feedback.
To prepare, practice SQL ranking and window-function edge cases and timed algorithm problems. Be ready to design stateful components and APIs, and explain operating-system concepts in your own words. Prepare your resume projects and the managerial round as seriously as the technical ones.
Synthesized from 3 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Cloudera process.
I went through three technical rounds at Cloudera for a Software Engineer role. The process moved pretty quickly — they sent prep materials upfront, which was helpful in knowing what to expect.
The first round was an online coding assessment with 75 minutes on the clock. There were three questions total: two DSA problems and one SQL question. The difficulty ranged from moderate to hard, so time management mattered. The SQL question asked me to find the second highest price from a products table, accounting for duplicates — not trivial, but a solid test of window functions and edge case handling. The two algorithm problems felt competition-grade in terms of complexity, which meant I had to be efficient with both code and time.
Then came an in-person day with two separate rounds. One was a system design interview focused on low-level design — specifically around building a metadata tracking system. That pushed me to think through data structures, API contracts, and scalability trade-offs. The other technical round circled back to coding, and they gave me a problem around implementing an iterator with arrays, which tested my understanding of stateful objects and efficient traversal.
What stood out was how grounded everything felt. The questions weren't abstract leetcode problems for their own sake — they framed things with relevance to what the team actually builds. The interviewers were genuinely friendly and didn't make it adversarial. Everyone seemed invested in understanding how I think, not just whether I could regurgitate a solution.
I got an offer at the end of it, which validated that the prep and approach paid off.
Prep tip from this candidate
Drill window functions and edge cases for SQL, especially finding nth highest or ranking problems. Go through competition-grade DSA problems to get comfortable under time pressure — 75 minutes for three questions is tight. Know low-level design cold, particularly around state management and API design for real-world systems like metadata tracking.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Cloudera
Select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| Top 5 Turnover Risk | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Largest Salary by Department | |
| Upsell Transactions | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Find the Missing Number | |
| Longest Streak Users | |
| String Shift | |
| Scrambled Tickets | |
| Find Bigrams | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Size of Joins | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Customer Orders | |
| Prime to N | |
| Minimum Change | |
| Raining in Seattle | |
| Find the First Non-Repeating Character in a String | |
| Last Transaction | |
| Get Top N Frequent Words | |
| Rectangle Overlap | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Employee Salaries (ETL Error) |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
One staff-level candidate reports starting with an HR screen before any technical work. Other candidates do not mention a separate screen, so applicants may find it varies by level. It is sensible to prepare a short summary of your background and the language you work in best.
One candidate reports a 75-minute online assessment with three questions: two data structures and algorithms problems and one SQL problem, rated moderate to hard. The SQL task asked for the second highest price while handling duplicates. A staff-level candidate also mentions an online coding and technical assessment, so timed practice is likely worthwhile.
Candidates report different technical content. One had an in-person day with low-level design for a metadata tracking system and a coding round on implementing an iterator with arrays. An associate-level candidate reports data structures and algorithms, UNIX concepts, inter-process communication, and resume projects. A staff-level candidate reports system design and a threads-versus-processes question.
Two candidates report a managerial interview as a final stage, though neither shares the questions. One of them received a rejection by email without feedback, and the other heard nothing after the round. The third candidate received an offer after the in-person technical day. Candidates may want to prepare examples of past projects and teamwork.
