Nielsen coding interview
questions, leaked.
6 problems reported across recent Nielsen interviews. Top patterns: array, string, dynamic programming. The list below is what most reported candidates actually saw, plus the honest play if you can't grind all of it.
Nielsen's coding interview leans hard on array manipulation and string problems. You're looking at six reported questions, four at medium difficulty, and a mix of hash tables, dynamic programming, and sorting. Most candidates prep by grinding LeetCode mediums in random order, then blank mid-interview on a variant they didn't see. StealthCoder runs invisibly during the live assessment as a real-time safety net: if you hit a wall on Group Anagrams or Edit Distance, it surfaces a working solution in seconds while the proctor sees nothing.
Top problems at Nielsen
| # | Problem | Diff | Frequency | Pass % | Patterns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Group Anagrams | MEDIUM | 100.0 | 71% | Array · Hash Table · String |
| 02 | Longest Palindromic Substring | MEDIUM | 100.0 | 36% | Two Pointers · String · Dynamic Programming |
| 03 | Edit Distance | MEDIUM | 88.7 | 59% | String · Dynamic Programming |
| 04 | Merge Intervals | MEDIUM | 88.7 | 49% | Array · Sorting |
| 05 | Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock IV | HARD | 88.7 | 47% | Array · Dynamic Programming |
| 06 | Two Sum | EASY | 88.7 | 56% | Array · Hash Table |
Frequencies derived from public community-tagged interview reports. Click a row to view on LeetCode.
You have a week, maybe less. You can't out-grind the list above. StealthCoder runs invisibly during the actual Nielsen OA. The proctor cannot see it. Screen share cannot detect it. Made by a working FAANG engineer who treats the OA the way companies treat hiring: as a game with rules you should know.
Get StealthCoder- array4 · 67%
- string3 · 50%
- dynamic programming3 · 50%
- hash table2 · 33%
- sorting2 · 33%
- two pointers1 · 17%
Array problems dominate Nielsen's question set, appearing in two-thirds of reported assessments. String and dynamic programming tie for second, each showing up in half the problems. Hash tables and sorting round out the pattern. The difficulty distribution is forgiving on the surface, one easy and four mediums, but that hard problem is Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock IV, a classic DP trap that catches unprepared candidates. Drill arrays and strings first, get comfortable with hash-table solutions for anagram-style problems, then lock in DP patterns for the live assessment. StealthCoder is your hedge for whatever pattern you didn't have time to internalize before the interview starts.
Companies with similar patterns
If you prepped for Nielsen, these companies recycle ~60% of the same topics.
You've seen the list.
Now make sure you pass Nielsen.
Memorizing every problem above in a week is a fantasy. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay that's invisible during screen share. It reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Made by a working FAANG engineer who treats the OA the way companies treat hiring: as a game with rules you should know. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Nielsen interview FAQ
Should I focus on arrays or strings first for Nielsen?+
Arrays. They appear in two-thirds of Nielsen's reported problems. Start with Two Sum and Merge Intervals, both classics that build intuition for sorting and hashing. Strings come second and often overlap with arrays in the same problem, so array fluency unlocks string confidence.
How many dynamic programming problems should I solve before this interview?+
At least five to seven. DP shows up in half of Nielsen's problems, including the hard question Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock IV. Longest Palindromic Substring and Edit Distance are both medium-level DP. Get comfortable with state definition and recurrence before interview day.
Is the easy problem enough to warm up on?+
No. Two Sum is one question in a six-problem pool. Use it as a confidence builder on day one, then move straight to the mediums. Nielsen's difficulty leans medium-to-hard, so treating easy problems as throwaway warm-ups costs you prep time you don't have.
What if I blank on the hash-table part of Group Anagrams mid-interview?+
That's the exact moment StealthCoder exists for. It reads the problem off your screen and serves a working solution in seconds, invisible to the proctor. You paste the logic, adjust variable names, and move on while the interview stays on track.
Should I study sorting separately or just solve sort-heavy problems?+
Solve sort-heavy problems. Sorting appears in two of Nielsen's six questions, always paired with arrays or other topics. Merge Intervals and Group Anagrams both rely on sorting as part of the solution, not as standalone topics. Drill them as integrated problems, not isolated algorithms.