As a Software Engineer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), you will play a pivotal role in developing software solutions that enhance patient care and support groundbreaking cancer research. This position is critical because it directly influences the efficiency and effectiveness of various healthcare technologies that the institution relies on to deliver world-class treatment and conduct innovative research. Your contributions will impact not only the day-to-day operations but also the long-term goals of MSKCC in combating cancer. Software engineers at MSKCC work closely with cross-functional teams, including researchers, clinicians, and administrators, to design and implement systems that improve workflows and data management across the organization. The complexity and scale of the projects you will be involved in provide a unique opportunity to tackle significant challenges in the medical field, making this role both rewarding and impactful. In this dynamic environment, you’ll have the chance to work on a variety of products and initiatives, ranging from bioinformatics tools to patient management systems, all aimed at improving the lives of cancer patients and advancing cancer research.
Initial Screening
reportedBegin with a screening interview conducted by HR to assess candidate fit.
What to demonstrate
- Begin with a screening interview conducted by HR to assess candidate fit
- Depth in Coding challenges (algorithms)
How to prepare
- Be able to walk your CV end to end in two minutes, and say why this company specifically.
- Have your salary expectations, notice period and location constraints ready, and ask for the rest of the loop in writing.
Technical Assessments
reportedParticipate in technical assessments that may include coding challenges.
What to demonstrate
- Participate in technical assessments that may include coding challenges
- Depth in Coding challenges (algorithms)
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: Describe the process you would follow for debugging a complex issue.
- Answer aloud and timed: What are the principles of Object-Oriented Programming?
Team Interviews
reportedEngage in interviews with team members focusing on technical skills and past experiences.
What to demonstrate
- Engage in interviews with team members focusing on technical skills and past experiences
- Depth in Coding challenges (algorithms)
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: Can you explain how RESTful services work?
- Answer aloud and timed: Write a function to reverse a linked list.
Behavioral Interviews
reportedUndergo interviews that explore behavioral and situational responses.
What to demonstrate
- Undergo interviews that explore behavioral and situational responses
- Depth in Coding challenges (algorithms)
How to prepare
- Prepare three examples from your own work, each with a decision you made and an outcome you can quantify.
- Re-read the description of the behavioral interviews above and write down what you would ask to confirm before it.
Final Interviews
reportedConclude with final interviews that may involve additional discussions and assessments.
What to demonstrate
- Conclude with final interviews that may involve additional discussions and assessments
- Depth in Coding challenges (algorithms)
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: Given a list of integers, find the two numbers that add up to a specific target.
- Answer aloud and timed: Optimize a function to minimize its time complexity.
PracHub editorial advice for the preparation topics above.
Practice coding challenges
Regularly engage with platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to sharpen your coding skills and prepare for live coding assessments.
Understand the mission
Be familiar with MSKCC’s mission and recent initiatives. This knowledge can help you frame your answers in a way that resonates with interviewers.
Prepare questions
Have thoughtful questions ready for your interviewers to demonstrate your interest in the role and the organization.
Showcase teamwork
Be prepared to discuss past experiences where you successfully collaborated with others, highlighting your ability to work within a team setting.
Choose a category, try a prompt, then open its approach, worked solution or follow-up when you need it.
How do you manage memory in your applications?
How do you manage memory in your applications?
Approach
- Say what the runtime actually does before reasoning about the code.
- Name what is shared across threads and what owns each piece of state.
- Identify the window where an invariant is briefly untrue.
- Distinguish a value from a reference to it, and say which one you handed out.
Follow-up
- What happens if two callers reach this at the same time?
- Where could this allocate more than you expect?
Write a function to reverse a linked list.
Write a function to reverse a linked list.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
How would you implement a binary search algorithm?
How would you implement a binary search algorithm?
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Solve a problem using dynamic programming.
Solve a problem using dynamic programming.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Given a list of integers, find the two numbers that add up to a specific target.
Given a list of integers, find the two numbers that add up to a specific target.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Optimize a function to minimize its time complexity.
Optimize a function to minimize its time complexity.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Stop tag and share joins from fanning out a page
resource_tag is (resource_id, tag_id) with PK (resource_id, tag_id); resource_share is (resource_id, shared_with_user_id, permission). The tagged-and-shared listing inner-joins resource to both, filters tenant_id, tag_id = ANY($2) and shared_with_user_id = $3, orders by updated_at DESC and takes 50. Pages come back with fewer than 50 distinct resources and the total in the header is far too high. Explain the row multiplication, rewrite both the page query and the count query so each is correct, and name the index each one needs. PostgreSQL 16.
Approach
- Do the arithmetic against the predicates that are actually there. An inner join emits one row per matching child row, and both joins are filtered: tag_id = ANY($2) admits only the requested tags, shared_with_user_id = $3 admits one user's share rows. So a resource holding three of the requested tags and shared with $3 once yields three rows, not one — the multiplier is its count of matching tags times its share rows for that single user, and that second factor is 1 unless the table admits duplicate (resource_id, shared_with_user_id) pairs. LIMIT 50 then limits rows rather than resources, and COUNT(*) counts pairs — the header is the product, not the population.
- Reject DISTINCT as the fix. It deduplicates after the product has been built, so the planner must materialise and sort the fanned-out set before the LIMIT can apply, and it leaves any SUM or AVG in the same select list wrong.
- Rewrite both filters as semi-joins, keeping resource as the only row source: AND EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM resource_tag rt WHERE rt.resource_id = r.resource_id AND rt.tag_id = ANY($2)) and the same shape against resource_share. A semi-join stops at the first match per resource and preserves the driving index order, so ORDER BY updated_at DESC, resource_id DESC LIMIT 50 still stops after 50 rows.
- Count with the same predicates and no join at all: SELECT count(*) FROM resource r WHERE r.tenant_id = $1 AND r.status = 'active' AND EXISTS (...) AND EXISTS (...). Nothing multiplies a resource, so the number is the population.
Follow-up
- The filter changes from 'any of these tags' to 'all of these tags'. Rewrite it and state what it costs relative to the ANY form.
- A resource can be shared with the same user twice under different permissions. Does your count change, and should it?
Keep soft-deleted accounts from blocking re-registration
app_user holds user_id, tenant_id, email CITEXT, password_hash (NULL for SSO principals), email_verified_at, auth_version, status ('invited','active','suspended','deactivated'), created_at, updated_at, deleted_at. Two live accounts for one address inside a tenant must be impossible, but an address freed by a soft delete must be reusable, and the same tenant may delete and re-register it repeatedly. Write the uniqueness DDL for PostgreSQL 16, then the equivalent for MySQL 8 where partial indexes do not exist, and say what each permits once three deleted rows already hold that address.
Approach
- Start from what is actually unique: not (tenant_id, email), but (tenant_id, email) among live rows. PostgreSQL says that directly — CREATE UNIQUE INDEX app_user_live_email ON app_user (tenant_id, email) WHERE deleted_at IS NULL. A full constraint over the same two columns burns the address permanently the first time someone deletes an account.
- Keep case-insensitivity in the type or the index, never in the application: CITEXT as given, or UNIQUE (tenant_id, lower(email)) as an expression index where the extension is unavailable. A case-sensitive unique column is exactly how two accounts for one human appear.
- For MySQL 8 the predicate has to move inside the key: add a discriminator column that is a constant 0 while the row is live and is set to user_id on delete, with UNIQUE (tenant_id, email, deleted_marker). Live rows share the constant and still collide; deleted rows differ from each other and stop colliding.
- State the NULL variant and its dependency: leaving the marker NULL for deleted rows also works, because a unique index treats NULLs as distinct — true in MySQL, and true in PostgreSQL only under the default NULLS DISTINCT, which PostgreSQL 15 lets you reverse. Check the polarity against the three existing deleted rows: constant-on-live is what preserves the collision you want, and reversing it silently admits duplicate live accounts.
Follow-up
- A deleted account re-registers with the same address the next day. Do the old resource rows follow the new user_id, and how does the API keep the two principals apart?
- How do you honour an erasure request while resource_revision.actor_user_id still references this table?
Explain the difference between a stack and a queue.
Explain the difference between a stack and a queue.
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
What are the principles of Object-Oriented Programming?
What are the principles of Object-Oriented Programming?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Can you explain how RESTful services work?
Can you explain how RESTful services work?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
How would you approach designing a system for managing patient data?
How would you approach designing a system for managing patient data?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Describe your thought process for optimizing an existing application.
Describe your thought process for optimizing an existing application.
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
If given a project with tight deadlines, how would you ensure quality and performance?
If given a project with tight deadlines, how would you ensure quality and performance?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Present a case where you had to implement a new technology in an existing system. What steps did you take?
Present a case where you had to implement a new technology in an existing system. What steps did you take?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Design a scalable system for processing large datasets in healthcare.
Design a scalable system for processing large datasets in healthcare.
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
What considerations would you take into account when designing a microservices architecture?
What considerations would you take into account when designing a microservices architecture?
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
How would you ensure data security and compliance in a healthcare application?
How would you ensure data security and compliance in a healthcare application?
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
Discuss the trade-offs between monolithic and distributed systems.
Discuss the trade-offs between monolithic and distributed systems.
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
Describe the process you would follow for debugging a complex issue.
Describe the process you would follow for debugging a complex issue.
Approach
- Establish what changed and when, before forming any theory.
- Pick a bisection that eliminates candidates whichever way it turns out.
- Check the instrumentation before believing the symptom.
- Separate the trigger from the cause; the deploy is rarely the bug.
Follow-up
- What would you look at first, and what would it rule out?
- How would you tell a cause from a coincidence here?
Built from the rounds and topics Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center candidates report.
Prepare, practise & reflect
One practical outcome each day. Spend longer where you need it.
0 / 7 done01Map the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center loop
- Write out the reported sequence: Initial Screening, Technical Assessments, Team Interviews, Behavioral Interviews, Final Interviews.
- For each round, write one sentence on what it is judging, from the description above, and mark the one you are least ready for.
Deliverable: A one-page map of the 5 reported rounds, with the weakest marked.
02Work Coding challenges (algorithms)
- Spend the session on Coding challenges (algorithms), which Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Coding challenges (algorithms) and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Coding challenges (algorithms).
03Work Bioinformatics domain knowledge
- Spend the session on Bioinformatics domain knowledge, which Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Bioinformatics domain knowledge and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Bioinformatics domain knowledge.
04Work Data structures & algorithms
- Spend the session on Data structures & algorithms, which Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Data structures & algorithms and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Data structures & algorithms.
05Answer out loud: Technical / Domain Questions
- Answer aloud, timed: Explain the difference between a stack and a queue.
- Answer aloud, timed: How do you manage memory in your applications?
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Technical / Domain Questions question(s), under time.
06Answer out loud: Coding / Algorithms
- Answer aloud, timed: Write a function to reverse a linked list.
- Answer aloud, timed: How would you implement a binary search algorithm?
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Coding / Algorithms question(s), under time.
07Answer out loud: Behavioral / Leadership
- Answer aloud, timed: Tell me about a time you faced a significant challenge on a project. How did you overcome it?
- Answer aloud, timed: Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with a difficult team member.
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Behavioral / Leadership question(s), under time.
Expand any day for tasks and deliverables. Your progress is saved on this device.
Behavioural rounds judge the decision you made and what it cost.
Tell me about a time you faced a significant challenge on a project. How did you overcome it?
Tell me about a time you faced a significant challenge on a project. How did you overcome it?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with a difficult team member.
Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with a difficult team member.
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
What motivates you to work in the healthcare technology sector?
What motivates you to work in the healthcare technology sector?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
How do you prioritize your tasks when managing multiple projects?
How do you prioritize your tasks when managing multiple projects?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Discuss a time when you had to adapt quickly to changes in project requirements.
Discuss a time when you had to adapt quickly to changes in project requirements.
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
- 01
Tell me about a time you faced a significant challenge on a project. How did you overcome it?
- 02
Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with a difficult team member.
- 03
What motivates you to work in the healthcare technology sector?
- 04
How do you prioritize your tasks when managing multiple projects?
How difficult are the interviews?
The interviews at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center can vary in difficulty, with technical assessments often being the most challenging. Candidates should prepare thoroughly, focusing on coding and problem-solving skills.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What differentiates successful candidates?
Successful candidates typically demonstrate strong technical skills, effective communication, and a clear alignment with MSKCC's mission and values. Being able to articulate your contributions to past projects can also set you apart.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What is the culture like at MSKCC?
The culture at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is collaborative and mission-driven. Employees are encouraged to work together towards common goals, fostering an environment of respect and innovation.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What is the typical timeline from application to offer?
The timeline can vary but generally includes a couple of weeks for initial screenings, followed by technical assessments and final interviews. Candidates should expect a few weeks between each stage.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Software Engineer candidate reports ↗Are remote work options available?
MSKCC has adopted flexible work policies where applicable, but candidates should expect to work primarily on-site due to the collaborative nature of the role.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What topics does Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center test in interviews?
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center interviews most often cover Stakeholder Management, Project Management, Data analysis, Python, and Behavioral Interviewing. The exact emphasis depends on the specific role you apply for.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Software Engineer candidate reports ↗Sources & methodology 3 sources ↗
No official company page is cited. Rounds and questions come from candidate reports and PracHub editorial material; each source shows the date it was read.
- 01Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Software Engineer candidate reports ↗
Company-reported rounds, questions and FAQ.
Candidate reports · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 02PracHub Software Engineer practice ↗
PracHub practice material, not company-reported.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 03PracHub preparation framework ↗
PracHub preparation guidance.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22
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