Nike runs quite different loops depending on the org. Nike ITC (Bangalore) hires backend/software engineers through a 3-round loop that starts with a third-party bar-raiser DSA round followed by two onsite rounds with a senior engineer and a hiring manager who probes high-level design, cloud fundamentals and behavioural fit. US retail hiring is dominated by a HireVue one-way recorded video and (for some campuses/stores) an on-campus group interview, while off-campus Indian SWE-1 recruiting has used a pen-and-paper aptitude + technical + director round mix. Loops emphasise Java/Spring Boot fundamentals, SQL and system design for tech, and personality + product familiarity for retail.
These 5 writeups cover software engineering, retail roles, India tech + US/UK retail. All of them were posted under a pseudonym (Reddit, GeeksforGeeks or forum handles), so we could not verify the authors’ identities.
Typical rounds
21-3 range
Outcomes shared
3/1offer / not
Most common round
Technical
Sources span
2019 - 2026
Most frequently reported · Behavioral(5), System design(3), Data structures & algorithms(2), Java(2), OOP(2)
What Nike is hiring for now
861 open roles in our index · advertised pay floors run $64k-$149k (median $127k, from 15 postings that state pay).
Most-posted roles
Athlete III15
נציג/ת מכירות (משרה חלקית)11
Software Engineer II, ITC9
Senior Software Engineer, ITC8
Retail Associate II6
Coach5
Top locations
Beaverton135
Shanghai84
Tokyo15
Guangzhou13
Seoul12
Commonly tested topics
Data structures & algorithms·System design·SQL·OOP·Behavioral·Past projects·Resume deep-dive·Cloud fundamentals·DBMS·Customer scenarios
Interview experiences at Nike
Outcome
Seniority
Software Engineer 1 (backend, off-campus)
New grad
Received an offer3 rounds
1
Pen-and-paper assessmentOnline assessment
In-person written test with 25 MCQs on core CS fundamentals plus one SQL question and one medium DSA question.
Deep drill on Java and Spring Boot fundamentals, Java vs JavaScript, JWT internals, plus one medium greedy DSA problem solved on a whiteboard.
Covered · Java, Spring Boot, OOP, Data structures & algorithms
3
Technical + behavioural with directorHiring manager
Discussion of current job and personal projects with high-level design questions, one queue-based DSA problem, two SQL questions, and behavioural questions on motivation for the switch.
Covered · Data structures & algorithms, SQL, Past projects, System design, Behavioral
Conducted by an external interviewer: high-level walkthrough of the current project, cloud-fundamentals questions and one DSA problem (validate BST) with an emphasis on brute-to-optimal narration.
Covered · Trees, Data structures & algorithms, Cloud fundamentals, Past projects
2
Onsite technical with senior engineerTechnical
Deep-dive into the candidate's current project architecture and its trade-offs; conducted at the Bangalore office.
Covered · Past projects, System design, API design
3
Hiring-manager HLD + behaviouralSystem design
Design a quick-commerce app with focus on inter-service communication, scaling under surge, and surge pricing; wrapped with behavioural fit questions.
Covered · System design, Scalability, API design, Behavioral
Java-centric technical round covering AWS, a small Java design-pattern question, Spring Boot annotation trivia, and AI/GenAI-flavoured questions; no DSA asked.
Covered · Java, AWS, Spring Boot, OOP
2
Techno-managerialHiring manager
Scenario-based questions, resume walkthrough, and AI/ML-application questions; candidate was rejected after this round.
Covered · Resume deep-dive, Behavioral, System design
In-person on-campus interview where the candidate was asked to wear their favourite Nike gear and tell the story behind it; internship offer extended shortly after.
Covered · Behavioral, STAR stories, Domain knowledge
Nike runs quite different loops depending on the org. Nike ITC (Bangalore) hires backend/software engineers through a 3-round loop that starts with a third-party bar-raiser DSA round followed by two onsite rounds with a senior engineer and a hiring manager who probes high-level design, cloud fundamentals and behavioural fit. US retail hiring is dominated by a HireVue one-way recorded video and (for some campuses/stores) an on-campus group interview, while off-campus Indian SWE-1 recruiting has used a pen-and-paper aptitude + technical + director round mix. Loops emphasise Java/Spring Boot fundamentals, SQL and system design for tech, and personality + product familiarity for retail.
What topics does Nike test in interviews?
Commonly reported topics include Data structures & algorithms, System design, SQL, OOP, Behavioral, Past projects.
These guides summarize public, first-hand interview experiences shared by candidates. They describe the shape of each loop and the topics that came up, not a leaked question bank, and every experience links back to its original source. Processes change often; treat this as directional prep, not a script.