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GitHub new grad / entry level interview, how to prep when you have no idea where to start

newgrad_neil · 4 replies

applying to github's university / new grad SWE role this cycle and feeling genuinely lost. there's barely any recent info out there specific to new grads vs senior loops.

here's what i've pieced together so far from older threads + a friend who went through it in early 2025:

the rounds (as best i can tell for new grad): recruiter screen: 20-30 min, basics on your experience and why GitHub specifically. they actually seem to care about the 'why github' piece more than some companies. technical screen: 1 coding problem, LeetCode medium difficulty, ~45 min. my friend said they got a graph traversal question. virtual onsite: looks like 3-4 rounds. at least one more coding round, a system design round (scaled appropriately for new grad, more like 'design a simple URL shortener' not 'design Twitter'), and at least one behavioral round.

what i'm doing to prep: grinding Neetcode 150, focusing on graphs, trees, dynamic programming reading about Git's internal architecture (not deep but at least know what a DAG is and why commits are hashed) practicing behavioral with the STAR format, focused on GitHub's actual product areas: developer tools, collaboration, CI/CD

questions i still have: how much does GitHub actually weight the system design for new grads vs experienced hires? is it more of a 'can you think through tradeoffs' vibe? did anyone get asked about distributed systems at the new grad level? is the behavioral round full 45 min or more like a 20 min add-on to a coding round?

one thing i'm doing that feels useful: framing my answers around developer experience and productivity since that's literally what GitHub builds. seems more on-brand than generic STAR stories.

any recent 2025 or 2026 loops would help a ton. i have my recruiter screen in two weeks.

4 replies

careerveteran

Good instincts on the 'why GitHub' prep. Companies that have a real product identity actually listen to that answer and use it to calibrate culture fit. Generic 'I want to grow my skills' answers hurt you more at GitHub than at, say, a generic enterprise SaaS shop.

For system design at new grad level: they're testing structured thinking, not production knowledge. Can you identify the right questions to ask, not just jump to 'I'd use Kafka.' Slow down, clarify constraints, think out loud. That alone separates 80% of candidates.

On behavioral: expect a full dedicated round, not a tack-on. GitHub's a company with a lot of product surface area and they want to see how you've worked with ambiguity.

newgrad_neil

really appreciate this. the 'identify the right questions' framing for system design is something i keep hearing but it clicks better when someone explains why. going to practice that more deliberately.

backend_bekah

the graph traversal question tracks. Git's object model is a DAG so graph problems feel thematically on-brand for them. wouldn't be surprised if it comes up for experienced hires too.

also: if you haven't touched GitHub Actions at all, spend an hour on it. not because they ask about it directly, but when behavioral rounds get to 'tell me about a project where you automated something' it's way easier if you can reference something real.

jp_newgrad

went through the recruiter screen last month for a similar role. the 'why GitHub' question was real. i said something about how GitHub sits at the center of how software gets made now and i wanted to work on tools that compound across every developer, not just one product's users. recruiter seemed to like it. got moved to the technical screen.