I recently completed the entire interview process for the Oracle 2026 New Grad Software Development Engineer role — from the initial screening to five virtual onsite rounds and finally the Hiring Manager call. The pace was fast, with almost no “easy” rounds. Overall, Oracle places significantly more emphasis on engineering thinking and production-level code than on pure algorithm drills. Especially during the VO stage, nearly every round felt like a simulation of real-world engineering scenarios.
Screening: Build a Simplified Redis in Golang
The interviewer was a friendly Chinese engineer, and communication was smooth throughout the session. The task was to implement a Golang-based key-value store supporting both string and list data types. Required operations included set, list.push, get, and list.remove, with additional rules around positive, negative, and zero counts for removal. Expiration could be deferred, but the design approach needed to be clearly explained.
This round essentially combined a mini system design discussion with live coding. The focus wasn’t syntax — it was architecture:
- How do you unify storage across different data types? Interface or struct?
- How can list deletion avoid an O(n) traversal?
- Are time complexities clearly understood?
- How would the system scale as data volume grows?
If your structure is logical and your code is clean, this round is very manageable.
VO Round 1: LRU Cache + Multithreading Follow-Up
This started as a classic LRU cache implementation. Immediately after finishing the baseline version, the interviewer asked: “What if this runs in a multithreaded environment? How would you reduce lock contention? Is there a more scalable design?”
If your preparation stops at the typical LeetCode template, this is where you may struggle. The round evaluates engineering depth rather than algorithm familiarity.
VO Round 2: Merge Sorted Lists → K-Way Merge
The interviewer first asked for merge two sorted lists. After a quick completion, the problem escalated to Merge K Sorted Lists.
What the interviewer really wanted to see was proactive complexity analysis and whether you would suggest a min-heap optimization to reach O(N log K). This is the type of round that rarely causes outright rejection but strongly differentiates candidates.
VO Round 3: Delete Target Leaf Nodes (Postorder Traversal)
The task was to delete all leaf nodes whose value equals a target — including handling the cascading effect where parent nodes become new leaves after deletion.
The key insight is using postorder traversal with return-value-based deletion logic. The interviewer paid close attention to naming conventions, structure, and redundant logic. Oracle clearly values production-style code — passing test cases alone is not enough.
VO Round 4: Project Deep Dive + Hospital Booking API Design
The first half was an intense resume deep dive: Why was the system designed this way? What were the tradeoffs? What would you change if you rebuilt it? Many candidates underestimate this portion and get caught off guard.
The coding portion involved designing a hospital booking system: 1,000 doctors, appointment slots every 15 minutes from 9 AM to 5 PM. The API needed to return the earliest available slot and maintain state across multiple requests.
This was essentially lightweight system design. Key considerations included:
- How should the data model be structured?
- How can the earliest slot be retrieved efficiently?
- How do you prevent double booking?
- What about concurrency?
Bringing up ideas like optimistic locking, thoughtful data structure selection, or state management often earned visible approval from the interviewer.
VO Round 5: Hiring Manager Behavioral
No coding — but definitely not a round to relax.
The two major questions were:
- How do you prioritize tasks in your daily work?
- What is your response process when a system outage impacts customers?
This wasn’t about reciting STAR stories. The hiring manager was evaluating whether you think like a dependable engineer.
Advice for Candidates Preparing for Oracle
If you're preparing for Oracle or other major tech companies, it is absolutely worth systematizing high-frequency problems in advance. Many questions appear simple on the surface, but once follow-ups begin, unprepared candidates often freeze.
I personally made the mistake early on of focusing only on algorithm practice without developing strong engineering communication. When interviewers asked about scaling or concurrency, I struggled. Only after reviewing a large set of real VO questions and practicing structured follow-ups did I build a stable framework for responding confidently.
On a related note, if you’re not fully confident in your interview performance — whether due to a non-traditional background, lighter project experience, or interview anxiety — it may help to explore professional interview support resources like ProgramHelp. They provide structured guidance for online assessments, technical interviews, and hiring manager rounds, with coaching and strategy tailored to help candidates present their strengths effectively.
Ultimately, strong preparation combined with the right support is far more effective than trying to power through high-stakes interviews unprepared.
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