OpenAI interview guide
OpenAI software engineer interview: process, questions and prep
OpenAI interviews feel closer to real work than to puzzle solving. Coding rounds ask you to build something that works, and one round digs deep into a project you led. Here is what candidates commonly report and how to prepare.
The process
The OpenAI interview process
What candidates commonly report. Teams and levels differ, so ask your recruiter what your loop looks like.
- Recruiter call
A short call about your background, why you want to work at OpenAI and where you think AI is going. Some candidates talk with the hiring manager first.
- Technical screen
One or two calls with engineers. Candidates report practical coding, like building a small system step by step, and sometimes a short design question.
- Onsite
Usually four or five interviews: coding, system design, a behavioral round and a round with people from other teams.
- Project deep dive
You walk through one project you built. Interviewers ask why it existed, what you did yourself, what went wrong and what it changed.
Questions
OpenAI behavioral interview questions
Questions candidates report from OpenAI behavioral rounds, and what a strong answer shows.
Why OpenAI? What does a typical day look like for you as an engineer, and how do you think about safe AI?
A strong answer shows a specific reason tied to OpenAI's products, mission or way of working.
Walk me through a project you're proud of. Why did it exist, what did you do versus the team, and what was the impact?
A strong answer shows clear personal ownership.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
A strong answer shows owning it.
Tell me about a disagreement with your manager.
A strong answer shows raising it with reasons.
Your largest customer wants a feature that isn't on the roadmap. What do you do?
A strong answer shows understanding the real need.
Tell me about working with another team, like legal, when the dependency wasn't in your control.
A strong answer shows understanding their constraints.
Tell me about getting stakeholders with conflicting priorities to agree.
A strong answer shows understanding each priority.
Tell me about a time you pushed back on a customer request.
A strong answer shows a clear reason.
Questions
OpenAI coding interview questions
Coding problems candidates report from OpenAI interviews.
LRU Cache
Caching model responses, eviction order
Asteroid Collision
Stack of survivors moving right
Simplify Path
Directory names on a stack
Time Based Key-Value Store
Binary search over timestamps
Trapping Rain Water
Two pointers with running maxima
Rotting Oranges
Multi-source breadth-first search
Web Crawler
Breadth-first crawl, one host
Balance at Any Timestamp
Sort once, then binary search the prefix
Expiring Credits
Spend what expires first, with a heap
Count Matching Regions
Label components, then compare
Ranges Without Forbidden Pairs
The earliest start for each end
Resumable Iterator
An iterator whose state you can save and restore
How to prepare
How to prepare for OpenAI
- Practice building small working systems under time, like an in-memory database or a rate limiter, not only short puzzles.
- Test your code as you go and say which edge cases you checked.
- Pick one project you know end to end and be ready for an hour of questions on it.
- Have a real view on the mission and on building AI safely. Expect to be asked about both.
Questions.
How many rounds is the OpenAI software engineer interview?
Candidates usually report a recruiter call, one or two technical screens, then an onsite of four or five interviews. The steps differ by team and level.
What coding questions does OpenAI ask?
Candidates report practical tasks more than classic puzzles: build a small system, then extend it as the rules change. Clean code, tests and edge cases count.
What is the OpenAI project deep dive?
A round about one project from your past. You explain why it mattered, what you did yourself, the hard parts and the result. Polished short stories are not enough, since the follow-ups go deep.
Can I practice a OpenAI mock interview?
Yes. Orin runs OpenAI-style mock interviews by voice, with OpenAI’s reported questions asked first and follow-ups in its style. Company interviews are on the Pro and Max plans. Your first interview is free.
How does an Orin mock interview work?
You talk with Orin by voice, like a video call. It asks questions, listens and asks follow-ups based on what you said. Coding happens in a live editor and design on a live whiteboard. After the interview you get a report with quotes from your answers, what cost you points and what to practice next.
Practice your OpenAI interview.
Talk through OpenAI-style questions with follow-ups, then see exactly what to fix. First interview free.
Start free interview