Liveperson is a leader in conversational commerce, empowering brands to deliver personalized customer experiences through AI and messaging solutions.

The Software Engineer role at Liveperson encompasses designing, developing, and maintaining software solutions that enhance customer communication platforms. You will be responsible for collaborating with cross-functional teams to create scalable applications, ensuring high performance, and addressing technical challenges. Key responsibilities include coding, testing, and debugging applications, as well as participating in code reviews and contributing to system architecture discussions.

To excel in this role, candidates should possess a strong foundation in software development principles, proficiency in languages such as JavaScript, Node.js, or React, and familiarity with data structures and algorithms. Experience in full-stack development is highly valued, as is a background in designing and implementing RESTful APIs and microservices. A collaborative mindset, problem-solving abilities, and a passion for continuous learning are essential traits that align with Liveperson's commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

This guide will help you prepare for your interview by providing insights into the role's expectations and the types of questions you may encounter, giving you the confidence to showcase your skills and fit for the company.

The interview process for a Software Engineer at LivePerson is structured to assess both technical skills and cultural fit within the company. It typically consists of several key stages:

1. Initial Phone Screen

The process begins with a brief phone screen, usually lasting around 20-30 minutes, conducted by a recruiter. During this call, the recruiter will discuss your background, experience, and motivations for applying to LivePerson. They will also provide an overview of the company’s products and culture, as well as inquire about your salary expectations. This stage is crucial for determining if your profile aligns with the company’s needs.

2. Technical Assessment

Following the initial screen, candidates may be required to complete a technical assessment. This could involve a coding challenge that tests your understanding of algorithms and data structures. The assessment is typically conducted online and may last about an hour. Candidates should be prepared to solve problems related to arrays, strings, and other fundamental programming concepts.

3. Technical Interview

The next step is a technical interview, which is often conducted via video conferencing platforms like Google Hangouts. This interview usually lasts between 45 to 60 minutes and focuses on your technical expertise. Interviewers may ask you to design systems or solve coding problems in real-time. Expect questions that assess your knowledge of software design principles, system architecture, and specific technologies relevant to the role, such as ReactJS or Node.js.

4. Onsite Interviews

If you progress past the technical interview, you will be invited to participate in an onsite interview, which may be conducted virtually. This stage typically consists of multiple rounds (around 4-5) with different team members. Each round may focus on various aspects, including system design, coding challenges, and behavioral questions. Interviewers will evaluate your problem-solving approach, coding proficiency, and ability to work collaboratively within a team.

5. Final Interview with Hiring Manager

The final stage often involves a conversation with the hiring manager. This interview is an opportunity for you to discuss your previous experiences in more detail and how they relate to the role you are applying for. The hiring manager will assess your fit within the team and the company culture, as well as your long-term career goals.

As you prepare for the interview process, it’s essential to be ready for a range of questions that will test both your technical skills and your ability to communicate effectively.

Here are some tips to help you excel in your interview.

Understand the Role and Its Requirements

Before your interview, take the time to thoroughly review the job description and understand the specific skills and technologies required for the Software Engineer position. Familiarize yourself with the core responsibilities, such as system design, algorithms, and data structures. Given that some candidates have reported discrepancies between the advertised job requirements and the interview questions, be prepared to discuss your experience in a way that aligns with the role's expectations, even if they seem to vary.

Prepare for Technical Challenges

Expect a mix of technical questions that may include coding challenges, system design, and algorithmic problems. Brush up on your knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and relevant programming languages. Practice coding problems that involve strings, arrays, and system design scenarios. Given the emphasis on practical skills, consider working on a small project or coding challenge that showcases your abilities in a full-stack context, as this may come up during the interview.

Be Ready for Behavioral Questions

In addition to technical skills, be prepared to discuss your past experiences and how you've handled challenges in your previous roles. Interviewers may ask about specific projects you've worked on, how you approached problem-solving, and your ability to work in a team. Reflect on your experiences and be ready to share examples that highlight your skills and adaptability.

Engage with the Interviewers

While some candidates have reported unfriendly interviewers, remember that the interview is also an opportunity for you to assess the company culture. Approach the interview with a positive attitude and engage with your interviewers. Ask insightful questions about the team dynamics, the projects you would be working on, and the company’s approach to learning and development. This will not only demonstrate your interest in the role but also help you gauge if the company is the right fit for you.

Clarify Any Misunderstandings

If you find that the interview questions do not align with your understanding of the role, don’t hesitate to seek clarification. Politely ask the interviewer to elaborate on their questions or provide context. This shows that you are engaged and willing to ensure that you are on the same page regarding the expectations of the role.

Follow Up Professionally

After the interview, send a thank-you email to express your appreciation for the opportunity to interview. Use this as a chance to reiterate your interest in the position and briefly mention any key points from the interview that you found particularly engaging. This not only leaves a positive impression but also keeps you on the interviewer's radar as they make their decision.

By following these tips, you can approach your interview with confidence and a clear strategy, increasing your chances of success in securing a position at Liveperson. Good luck!

In this section, we’ll review the various interview questions that might be asked during a software engineering interview at LivePerson. The interview process will likely assess your technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and understanding of software design principles. Be prepared to discuss your previous experiences, projects, and how you approach challenges in software development.

Technical Skills

1. Can you describe a challenging project you worked on and how you overcame the obstacles?

This question aims to assess your problem-solving skills and resilience in the face of challenges.

How to Answer

Focus on a specific project, detailing the challenges you faced and the steps you took to resolve them. Highlight your thought process and any collaboration with team members.

Example

“In my last project, we faced significant performance issues with our application. I conducted a thorough analysis of the code and identified bottlenecks in our database queries. By optimizing these queries and implementing caching strategies, we improved the application’s response time by 40%.”

2. How would you design a system to collect app usage data that is extendable?

This question tests your system design skills and your ability to think about scalability and future requirements.

How to Answer

Discuss the components of the system, how data will be collected, stored, and analyzed. Emphasize the importance of modularity and how you would ensure the system can adapt to future needs.

Example

“I would design a microservices architecture where each service is responsible for a specific aspect of data collection. This would allow us to easily add new features or data sources in the future. I would use a message queue for data ingestion to handle spikes in traffic and a NoSQL database for flexible data storage.”

3. Explain the lifecycle of a React component.

This question assesses your knowledge of React and your ability to articulate technical concepts clearly.

How to Answer

Outline the different phases of a React component's lifecycle, including mounting, updating, and unmounting. Mention key lifecycle methods and their purposes.

Example

“A React component goes through three main phases: mounting, updating, and unmounting. During mounting, methods like constructor, render, and componentDidMount are called. In the updating phase, componentDidUpdate is triggered when props or state change. Finally, during unmounting, componentWillUnmount is called to clean up resources.”

Algorithms and Data Structures

4. How would you find the kth most frequent word in a list of words?

This question evaluates your algorithmic thinking and familiarity with data structures.

How to Answer

Discuss the approach you would take, including the data structures you would use to count frequencies and how you would determine the kth most frequent word.

Example

“I would use a hash map to count the frequency of each word. Then, I would store the words in a max heap based on their frequencies. Finally, I would extract the top k elements from the heap to find the kth most frequent word.”

5. Can you explain how you would implement a distributed cache?

This question tests your understanding of caching strategies and distributed systems.

How to Answer

Describe the principles of distributed caching, including data consistency, cache invalidation, and how you would handle failures.

Example

“I would implement a distributed cache using a consistent hashing algorithm to distribute data across multiple nodes. To ensure data consistency, I would use a write-through caching strategy, where updates to the cache also update the database. For cache invalidation, I would implement a time-to-live (TTL) policy to refresh stale data.”

System Design

6. Design a snake game. What components would you include?

This question assesses your ability to break down a problem and design a system from scratch.

How to Answer

Outline the main components of the game, including the game loop, rendering, and user input handling. Discuss how you would structure the code and manage game state.

Example

“I would start by creating a game loop that updates the game state and renders the graphics. The main components would include a Snake class to manage the snake's position and movement, a Food class for generating food items, and a Game class to handle the overall game logic. User input would be captured to control the snake's direction.”

7. What technologies are you most proficient in, and how have you applied them in your projects?

This question allows you to showcase your technical expertise and relevant experience.

How to Answer

Be specific about the technologies you are skilled in and provide examples of how you have used them in your work.

Example

“I am proficient in Java and Spring for backend development, as well as React for frontend applications. In my last project, I built a full-stack application using these technologies, where I implemented RESTful APIs with Spring and created a dynamic user interface with React.”

• Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. If more than one person shares the highest salary, the query should select the next highest salary.

• Write a function to merge two sorted lists into one sorted list. Given two sorted lists, write a function to merge them into one sorted list. Bonus: Determine the time complexity.

• Create a function missing_number to find the missing number in an array. You have an array of integers, nums of length n spanning 0 to n with one missing. Write a function missing_number that returns the missing number in the array. Complexity of (O(n)) required.

• Develop a function precision_recall to calculate precision and recall metrics from a 2-D matrix. Given a 2-D matrix P of predicted values and actual values, write a function precision_recall to calculate precision and recall metrics. Return the ordered pair (precision, recall).

• Write a function to search for a target value in a rotated sorted array. Suppose an array sorted in ascending order is rotated at some pivot unknown to you beforehand. You are given a target value to search. If the value is in the array, return its index; otherwise, return -1. Bonus: Your algorithm's runtime complexity should be in the order of (O(\log n)).

• Would you suspect anything unusual about the A/B test results with 20 variants? Your manager ran an A/B test with 20 different variants and found one significant result. Would you consider this result suspicious?

• How would you set up an A/B test to optimize button color and position for higher click-through rates? A team wants to A/B test changes in a sign-up funnel, such as changing a button from red to blue and/or moving it from the top to the bottom of the page. How would you design this test?

• What steps would you take if friend requests on Facebook are down 10%? A product manager at Facebook reports a 10% decrease in friend requests. What actions would you take to investigate and address this issue?

• Why might job applications be decreasing despite stable job postings? You observe that the number of job postings per day has remained stable, but the number of applicants has been decreasing. What could be causing this trend?

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score datasets, and how would you reformat them for better analysis? You have data on student test scores in two different layouts. What are the drawbacks of these formats, and what changes would you make to improve their usefulness for analysis? Additionally, describe common issues in "messy" datasets.

• Is this a fair coin based on 10 flips resulting in 8 tails and 2 heads? You flip a coin 10 times, and it comes up tails 8 times and heads twice. Determine if this is a fair coin based on the results.

• How would you write a function to calculate sample variance for a list of integers? Write a function that outputs the sample variance given a list of integers. Round the result to 2 decimal places.

Example: Input: python test_list = [6, 7, 3, 9, 10, 15] Output: python get_variance(test_list) -> 13.89

• Is there anything suspicious about an A/B test with 20 variants where one is significant? Your manager runs an A/B test with 20 different variants and finds one significant result. Would you find anything suspicious about these results?

• How would you find the median of a list where more than 50% of the elements are the same? Given a list of sorted integers where more than 50% of the list is comprised of the same repeating integer, write a function to return the median value in (O(1)) computational time and space.

Example: Input: python li = [1,2,2] Output: python median(li) -> 2

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score datasets, and how would you reformat them? Assume you have data on student test scores in two different layouts. Identify the drawbacks of these layouts, suggest formatting changes for better analysis, and describe common problems in "messy" datasets.

Dataset 1 and 2:

• How would you evaluate whether using a decision tree algorithm is the correct model for predicting loan repayment? You are tasked with building a decision tree model to predict if a borrower will pay back a personal loan. How would you evaluate if a decision tree is the right choice for this problem?

• How would you evaluate the performance of a decision tree model before and after deployment? If you decide to use a decision tree model, how would you assess its performance before deployment and monitor it after deployment?

• How does random forest generate the forest, and why use it over logistic regression? Explain how a random forest algorithm generates its forest. Additionally, why might you choose random forest over logistic regression for certain problems?

• When would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm? Compare two machine learning algorithms. In which scenarios would you prefer a bagging algorithm over a boosting algorithm? Provide examples of the tradeoffs between the two.

• How would you justify using a neural network model and explain its predictions to non-technical stakeholders? If asked to build a neural network model to solve a business problem, how would you justify its complexity and explain the predictions to non-technical stakeholders?

• What metrics would you use to track the accuracy and validity of a spam classifier for emails? Assume you have built a V1 of a spam classifier for emails. What metrics would you use to evaluate its accuracy and validity?

What is the average salary for a Software Engineer at Liveperson?

Q: What is the interview process like at LivePerson for a Software Engineer position?

A: The interview process at LivePerson typically involves multiple stages, including a phone screen with a recruiter, technical coding challenges, and a series of technical and system design interviews. Candidates might also have a conversation with a hiring manager and participate in a virtual onsite interview.

Q: What are some common interview questions asked at LivePerson?

A: Common interview questions at LivePerson may include technical problems on algorithms and data structures, system design questions such as designing a distributed cache or a snake game, and behavioral questions like discussing past experiences and challenges faced.

Q: What skills and qualifications do I need to work as a Software Engineer at LivePerson?

A: To be considered for a Software Engineer role at LivePerson, you need strong programming skills in Java or Python, experience with cloud platforms and containerization technologies like GCP, Docker, and Kubernetes, and excellent problem-solving abilities. Familiarity with frameworks like PyTorch, HuggingFace Transformers, and a solid understanding of NLP concepts are preferred.

Q: What is the company culture like at LivePerson?

A: LivePerson fosters an inclusive workplace culture that emphasizes meaningful connection, collaboration, and innovation. The company values diversity and empowers team members to grow, think creatively, and actively seek new ways to achieve success. LivePerson is also recognized as a remote-friendly and innovative workplace.

Q: How can I prepare for an interview at LivePerson?

A: To prepare for an interview at LivePerson, it's essential to research the company, understand its product offerings, and review the job description thoroughly. Practice common interview questions using resources from Interview Query, focus on your technical skills, and be prepared to discuss your previous experiences and how they relate to the position you are applying for.

Conclusion

Ready to dive into the cutting-edge world of Conversational AI with LivePerson? Our Software Engineer positions offer a dynamic environment to innovate, collaborate, and drive meaningful connections with millions globally. While our interview process may be rigorous and detailed, our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture ensures you’ll be both challenged and supported.

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main LivePerson Interview Guide, where we have covered numerous interview questions that could be asked. We’ve also created interview guides for other roles, such as software engineer and data analyst, where you can learn more about LivePerson’s interview process for different positions.

At Interview Query, we empower you to unlock your interview prowess with a comprehensive toolkit, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence, and strategic guidance to conquer every LivePerson interview challenge.

You can check out all our company interview guides for better preparation, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Good luck with your interview!