OpenAI Software Engineer Interview Experience — Fault-Tolerant Work Queue Coding Plus a Metrics Monitoring Design Round

OpenAI·Software Engineer·Oct 2026
Technical ScreenIn progressmedium

Coding

  1. Fault-Tolerant Work Queue

I solved the first part but got stuck on one silly bug which took a long time, but I got it to green eventually.

I coded up the second part quickly but couldn't run the code due to time. The interviewer said it should be okay, that I was very close, and that I am good.

System Design

  1. Metrics monitoring variation

I did okay in this round. The interviewer didn't seem to be impressed. They asked me to focus on 1 or 2 areas and said I don't need a full system design answer, but I feel they might rate me based on the overall setup.

Will I get another chance or will I get rejected? I am so nervous.

Published

Curated and edited by PracHub

Practice the questions from this interview

Implement a fault-tolerant work queue that never loses tasks when workers fail
Design a metrics monitoring system, going deep on one or two components

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Interview at a glance

Company
OpenAI
Role
Software Engineer
Rounds
Technical Screen
Outcome
In progress
Difficulty
medium
Interview date
Oct 2026
Questions from this interview
2 questions

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