Leidos Software Engineer candidates describe varied 2-3 round paths centered on resume discussion, behavioral fit, practical stack knowledge, and basic coding or technical fundamentals.
$121K
Avg. Base Comp
$158K
Avg. Total Comp
2-3 rounds
Typical Rounds
3-6 months
Process Length
Leidos Software Engineer interviews in these candidate accounts were more interested in whether an applicant could explain their own work than in a uniform algorithm-heavy screen. Prepare a clear, detailed walkthrough of every project, language, framework, and accomplishment on your resume. One candidate described resume and career discussions in early in-person conversations; another said interviewers repeatedly returned to prior work and technical details.
The technical portion varied by team. Candidates reported basic Java, Spring, database, OAuth, ELK, and object-oriented-programming questions; others encountered C versus C++, smart pointers, stack-versus-heap memory, Salesforce or WordPress topics, and design patterns. A few reports included a small coding task, an array problem, a moderately difficult challenge, or a string-reversal exercise, while another reported no live coding. Match your preparation to the posted stack, then rehearse explaining your reasoning aloud for a concise coding problem rather than assuming every team will use the same assessment.
Behavioral and motivation questions also appeared, including why Leidos, a candidate’s best quality, a biggest weakness, collaboration, competing tasks, and whether they preferred development or testing. Some processes began with a recruiter or phone conversation, while another began with a digital interview; later conversations could involve an architect, technical lead, manager, HR, or a panel. One candidate explicitly reported an end-to-end process of about three to six months. The sample is limited, so treat the sequence and technical depth as team-dependent.
Synthesized from 5 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Leidos process.
The interview was pretty straightforward overall, but they did spend a lot of time digging into my resume. I started with an online application through their portal, then moved into a digital interview that had video questions, text responses, a code review section, and some behavioral prompts. After that, I had a live interview with the team. The first thing they wanted to know was why I wanted to work for Leidos and what my best quality was that I could bring to the company, so the early part felt more like a fit check than anything else. They also went in-depth on my prior work experience, so I had to be ready to explain every technical detail I had listed on my resume.
The technical questions were not super advanced, but they were specific. I got a basic coding question around arrays and some app concepts, and there was also a coding challenge that felt moderately hard. What stood out most was that the interviewers kept circling back to what I had actually done before, rather than throwing a lot of algorithm-heavy problems at me. In my panel round, it was mostly managers and project managers asking behavioral questions like how I handle competing tasks, along with questions tied to litigation experience. The vibe was conversational, but they definitely expected you to know your own background well. I ended up getting an offer, and my main takeaway is to be very prepared to talk through your resume line by line and have a clear answer for why Leidos specifically.
Prep tip from this candidate
Be ready to explain every project and bullet on your resume in detail, since they kept drilling into prior work experience. Also practice a basic array coding question plus a moderately hard coding challenge, because that was the most technical part of the process.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Leidos
Write a function `sorting` from scratch to sort a list of strings in ascending alphabetical order
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|---|---|
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Your Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| First Touch Attribution | |
| Employee Project Budgets | |
| P-value to a Layman | |
| Project Budget Error | |
| String Mapping | |
| Implementing the Fibonacci Sequence in Three Different Methods | |
| Slow SQL Query | |
| Seller Type Modeling | |
| Liker's Likers | |
| Why Do You Want to Work With Us | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| String Shift | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Customer Orders | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Top 5 Turnover Risk | |
| Like Tracker | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| Weighted Keys |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates reported different openings: a recruiter-led phone screen, a recruiter email followed by an architect call, or a digital interview with video and text responses, code review, and behavioral prompts. Be ready to introduce your background, discuss your current work, and explain why you want the role.
Several candidates described conversations about projects, career trajectory, preferred languages or frameworks, and fit questions such as why Leidos, a best quality, or development versus testing. Interviewers may probe the technical details behind resume claims, so practice concise examples you can defend.
Technical depth varied across reports. Candidates encountered Java, Spring, databases, OOP, OAuth, ELK, memory concepts, design patterns, and role-specific tools; some also completed a whiteboard, array, string, or small coding problem. Review fundamentals and the job description’s stack.
Candidates reported later discussions with managers, technical leads, engineers, HR, or technical directors, sometimes in person or in a panel. These sessions may combine collaboration and workload scenarios with follow-up questions about technical experience or problem-solving.
