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eBay new grad entry level interview: how do you actually prep for this

jp_newgrad · 4 replies

I'm a 2025 grad and I have an eBay new grad / entry level SWE interview coming up in a few weeks. I've been searching everywhere and there's not much specific info for the new grad track vs. the experienced hire track. Posting here in case others are in the same boat, and hoping people who've done it recently can share.

What I've found so far from digging through old posts and talking to a friend who interned there:

Phone screen: Usually one 45-minute round with an engineer. Expect 1-2 LeetCode medium problems. My friend said they got a sliding window problem and a binary search variation. Apparently they care about you talking through your approach before coding, not just jumping in.

Onsite (virtual): For new grad it seems to be 3-4 rounds. At least one more DSA round, one system design that's scaled back for entry level (they're not expecting you to design Kafka from scratch, more like 'design a URL shortener'), and one behavioral. A few people mention an additional round depending on team but not always.

What level: New grad hires come in at L4 in eBay's leveling. Base salaries I've seen reported in 2026 range from $170-$190K for San Jose. RSUs on top.

How I'm prepping: 100 LeetCode mediums focused on arrays, strings, trees, graphs. Practicing system design with simplified prompts. For behavioral I'm doing a lot of STAR prep on: initiative I took without being asked, a time I had a conflict with a teammate, a project I'm most proud of.

Anything I'm missing? Specifically: do they test OOP design at the new grad level, or is that just experienced? Do they ask about CS fundamentals like OS/networking or is it mostly DSA + design?

Thanks in advance. Will report back.

4 replies

newgrad_neil

I went through it last spring. No OOP design at the new grad level. DSA + one light system design + behavioral is the correct picture. They did ask me one question that touched on API design but it was really basic. Good luck!

pivot_pat

No networking/OS questions in my loop. It was all algorithmic. The system design was genuinely light, more 'walk me through how you'd think about this' than 'tell me the exact architecture.'

recruiter_rita

For new grad loops at companies like eBay the behavioral is often underestimated. They're looking for people who can communicate clearly, not just code. Have real stories ready, not just hypotheticals. Your initiative example is important at the new grad level specifically.

jp_newgrad

Update: I did the phone screen. Got a sliding window question (find the longest substring with k distinct characters) and a basic tree traversal. Talked through both before coding. Got through to onsite. Will update again after.