went through the full Netflix loop earlier this year (senior SWE, backend, LA-based role). passed. didn't take the offer for unrelated reasons. but the prep was the most interesting part of my job search in a while, so here's the honest version of what I'd do differently.
what I wasted time on: leetcode grinds. I did like 60 problems specifically for Netflix. you need maybe 10-15 to be comfortable with the coding rounds, and honestly the bar isn't high. they're more interested in your thought process and how you communicate tradeoffs than whether you can reverse a linked list in under 4 minutes. I over-rotated.
what actually mattered: the behavioral portion is surprisingly heavy. they call it "culture fit" but it's really just the Netflix Culture Memo, tested. read that doc. not skimmed, actually read it. "informed captain," "context not control," "highly aligned, loosely coupled." those phrases showed up directly in interviewer questions. I was caught off guard the first time someone asked me to describe a situation where I disagreed with my manager and acted anyway. they want to see that you actually have a spine and can articulate the reasoning.
for system design (I did two rounds), the key was scope control. I had a tendency to immediately jump into distributed systems complexity. what they actually wanted: clarify the problem, nail a simple working version, then expand. one interviewer explicitly stopped me mid-deep-dive to say "let's make sure the basic version works first."
the prep sequence I'd actually recommend: read the Netflix culture memo twice write out 5-6 real stories from your career: a time you pushed back, a mistake, a project you drove without being asked, a time you had to deliver something with bad constraints do maybe 2 system design walkthroughs with a peer, focused on communication not just architecture 15-20 leetcode mediums if coding is rusty, don't need more than that
the whole loop was 4 rounds for me: 2 coding, 1 system design, 1 behavioral+culture. recruiter told me some roles add a second system design. the timeline was tight, about 3 weeks from first screen to offer.
one thing nobody told me: the interviewers move fast. they're not trying to make you comfortable. it's a high-bar-but-efficient operation. don't take the brisk pace personally.