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PayPal Software Engineer Interview Questions

The questions to prepare for a PayPal Software Engineer interview. Questions from real interview reports rank first. Updated weekly.

50questions
~9htotal time
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1
CodingStart here. 15 questions · ~159 min
Linked List ReversalEasy
Practice
Recently asked

Reverse a singly linked list in-place using iterative pointer manipulation.

RecursionLinked ListsArraysPayPal
Check Binary Tree BalanceEasy
Practice

Use postorder recursion to determine whether a binary tree is height-balanced in O(n) time.

RecursionSearchingTreesPayPal
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2
Execution7 questions · ~74 min
Prioritize Features for New LaunchMedium
Recently asked

Explain how you would prioritize launch features when stakeholders want different things and the first release needs clear success criteria.

Trade-offsFeature PrioritizationRoadmappingPayPal
Speed vs Maintainability Trade-offMedium
Recently asked

Describe how you balanced fast delivery against technical debt, including stakeholder alignment, scope decisions, and risk management.

Trade-offsRisk AssessmentScope ManagementPayPal
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3
System Design14 questions · ~148 min
Microservices Architecture BenefitsMedium
Recently asked

Tests system design trade-offs and when microservices are appropriate for scalable solutions.

Feature StoreRetrievalModel ServingPayPal
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4
SQL & Data Manipulation4 questions + 3 drills · ~72 min
Optimize a Slow SQL QueryHard
Recently asked

Tests advanced SQL tuning and ability to improve performance while preserving results.

SubqueriesJoinsCTEsPayPal
SQL Missing Marks RuleEasy
Practice
Practice drill

Use GROUP BY and HAVING to exclude students missing marks in two or more subjects.

data cleaningsqlPayPal
SQL Conversion by Channel and DeviceMedium
Practice
Practice drill

Calculate PayPal Checkout conversion rates by acquisition channel and device using a CTE, LEFT JOIN, and conditional aggregation.

JoinsGroup ByAggregationsPayPal
SQL Weekly Cohort RetentionHard
Practice
Practice drill

Calculate weekly PayPal user retention by signup cohort using CTEs, date functions, joins, and aggregation.

Date FunctionsCTEsAggregationsPayPal
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5
Security & Infrastructure5 questions · ~53 min
Terraform vs AWS CDK vs CloudFormationMedium

Evaluates infrastructure-as-code knowledge and tradeoffs across tooling.

terraformawsPayPal
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6
Behavioral & Leadership4 questions · ~42 min
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7
More topics1 question · ~11 min
Inventory Stock Alert PipelineMedium

Evaluates event-driven pipeline design and correct alerting logic for inventory state transitions.

inventory managementalertsPayPal
The finish line: interview-readyComplete all 50 questions plus 3 hands-on drills to finish this plan.