theloop
CompaniesRoundsQuestionsSearchProgress
theloop

Interview questions from top companies, mapped to the exact round they show up in. Prep for what you will actually face.

View source

Browse

CompaniesSearchAll rounds

Rounds

Online AssessmentDSA / CodingMachine CodingLow-Level Design

Contribute

Share an interviewReport an issueStar on GitHub

The Loop aggregates publicly shared interview experiences and curated commonly-asked questions, each labeled with its source. Not affiliated with any company listed.

CC BY-NC 4.0 · © 2026

← Palo Alto Networks

Staff+ Backend at Palo Alto Networks

BackendStaff+Rejected◆ Commonly asked· 2024

A staff backend loop. Coding-heavy early, design and behavioral later.

The loop · 5 rounds

01

Round 01 · 3 questions

DSA / Coding

Data structures & algorithms on a whiteboard or shared editor.

  • Implement a trie (prefix tree).
    Staff+Medium◆ Commonly asked
    #trie
    PracticeLeetCode↗GeeksforGeeks↗
  • Binary tree level order traversal.
    Staff+Medium◆ Commonly asked
    #tree#bfs
    PracticeLeetCode↗GeeksforGeeks↗
  • Unique paths.
    Staff+Medium◆ Commonly asked
    #dp#grid
    PracticeLeetCode↗GeeksforGeeks↗
02

Round 02 · 1 question

Low-Level Design

Object-oriented / low-level design of a focused module.

  • Design a ride-hailing dispatch model (classes).
    Staff+Hard◆ Commonly asked
    #oop#matching
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
03

Round 03 · 2 questions

System Design

High-level architecture of a large-scale system.

  • Design a file-sharing service with permissions.
    Staff+Medium◆ Commonly asked
    #storage#acl
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
  • Design an event-driven order pipeline with retries.
    Staff+Hard◆ Commonly asked
    #events#queues
    PracticeGeeksforGeeks↗Search↗
04

Round 04 · 1 question

Hiring Manager

Scope, ownership, and role-fit discussion with the manager.

  • How do you handle an underperforming teammate?
    Staff+◆ Commonly asked
    #leadership
05

Round 05 · 2 questions

Behavioral / HR

Values, collaboration, and past-experience (STAR) questions.

  • Tell me about a time you failed and what you learned.
    Staff+◆ Commonly asked
    #growth#star
  • Describe a conflict with your manager and the outcome.
    Staff+◆ Commonly asked
    #conflict#star

Practice each round across every company

  • DSA / Coding
  • Low-Level Design
  • System Design
  • Hiring Manager
  • Behavioral / HR

◆ This experience is composed from commonly reported questions for this role and level. Real, individually-shared interviews will be layered in over time.