Atlassian - interview guide

Atlassian interview questions - a complete guide

Alongside the technical rounds, Atlassian has a 'values interview' that many people find the hardest. Here are Atlassian's official values and how to answer around them.

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About Atlassian

Atlassian builds team-collaboration software such as Jira, Confluence and Trello, with an engineering centre in Bengaluru. Your way of working (values) is weighed just as much as your technical skill.

This guide covers 13 Atlassian interview questions with answers - what each question checks and how to answer it - plus the Atlassian interview process, round by round, a 7-day preparation plan for freshers, tips and the mistakes to avoid.

Atlassian hiring process

  1. Online assessment

    A coding test (such as HackerRank).

  2. Technical interviews

    Coding, code design, and sometimes fixing bugs or adding features in a toy project.

  3. Values interview

    A behavioural conversation about Atlassian's 5 values - with examples from your past work.

Atlassian's 5 values are from Atlassian's official values page. The interview round format is based on candidate reports and changes by role and year.

Sources (checked 16 October 2026): Atlassian Values (atlassian.com), Atlassian Careers. Hiring processes change - read the official notice before you apply.

Atlassian interview questions and answers

Values interview

Atlassian's 5 values: Open company, no bullshit; Build with heart and balance; Don't #@!% the customer; Play, as a team; Be the change you seek. Keep one real story for each.

  1. 1.Open company, no bullshit: when did you tell the truth plainly?

    What they're checking
    Transparency.
    How to answer
    A situation where you had to say something hard (like a deadline being missed), how and when you said it, and the result.

  2. 2.Build with heart and balance: when did you balance passion with balance?

    What they're checking
    Balancing work and judgement.
    How to answer
    A project where you worked hard but didn't give up quality or health in a rush.

  3. 3.Don't #@!% the customer: what did you do for a user?

    What they're checking
    Customer focus.
    How to answer
    The user's problem, what you changed for them (even if it took more work), and the effect.

  4. 4.Play, as a team: what did you give up for the team to win?

    What they're checking
    Teamwork.
    How to answer
    When you let go of your own idea or credit so the team could move forward - and what happened.

  5. 5.Be the change you seek: when did you fix something yourself without being asked?

    What they're checking
    Initiative.
    How to answer
    What was broken, what you changed, and its effect.

Coding and code design

  1. 6.Fix the given bugs in a small project and add a feature.

    What they're checking
    Reported - working in a real codebase.
    How to answer
    Read the code and run it first, write tests, then make small safe changes - talking through your thinking.

  2. 7.Design and code a snake game.

    What they're checking
    Code design + data structures.
    How to answer
    Board, Snake (a deque - head at the front, tail at the back), food, collision checks. Clean classes.

  3. 8.How would you write a rate-limited API client that also retries?

    What they're checking
    Practical code design.
    How to answer
    A token bucket for the limit, exponential backoff on failure, and a maximum number of retries - all configurable.

  4. 9.Find the distance between two nodes in a tree.

    What they're checking
    Trees.
    How to answer
    Find the LCA; distance = depth(a) + depth(b) - 2 × depth(LCA).

More questions

  1. 10.What feature would you add to a tool like Jira?

    What they're checking
    Product thinking.
    How to answer
    A real problem you saw in a team, its solution, and how you would measure success.

  2. 11.What do you look for in a code review?

    What they're checking
    Engineering culture.
    How to answer
    Whether it works, whether it is easy to read, tests and edge cases - with respectful comments.

  3. 12.Why Atlassian?

    What they're checking
    Motivation.
    How to answer
    Building tools for teams - and which value matches you most.

  4. 13.How do you work with a remote/distributed team?

    What they're checking
    Collaboration.
    How to answer
    Clear written updates, documented decisions, and good use of overlap time.

7-day preparation plan for the Atlassian interview

  1. Day 1: Read Atlassian's 5 values and write a story for each.
  2. Day 2: Coding - trees and graphs.
  3. Day 3: Code design - snake game, rate limiter.
  4. Day 4: Practise fixing a bug in a small project.
  5. Day 5: Practise the values stories out loud.
  6. Day 6: Product thinking - an idea for Jira/Confluence.
  7. Day 7: A mock - 1 coding + 1 values round.

Preparation tips

  • Prepare one real story for each value - don't take the values interview lightly.
  • Clean, readable code in coding rounds - Atlassian looks at code quality.
  • Practise working in a real codebase: fix a bug in an open-source project.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Treating the values interview as an 'HR round' and not preparing.
  • Saying only 'we' in stories - make your role clear.
  • Making big changes before running the code.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Atlassian values interview?

A behavioural round that checks how closely your way of working matches Atlassian's 5 values.

What are Atlassian's values?

The official values: Open company, no bullshit; Build with heart and balance; Don't #@!% the customer; Play, as a team; Be the change you seek.

Is there a coding test at Atlassian?

Coding and design rounds after an online coding test are commonly reported.

Who takes the Atlassian values interview?

According to reports, sometimes someone from outside your team.

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