My Personal Guide to Acing the Adobe HackerRank Test in 2025

Silvia AN

·October 11, 2025

·5 min read

My personal guide to acing the Adobe Hackerrank test in 2025

Adobe Hackerrank Process

I applied for an Adobe intern and received the OA after about two weeks. They set a time limit for completion. The difficulty level seemed low. There are three questions in total. You don’t need to turn on your camera while doing it, but the screen is monitored, so my advice is not to switch pages.

I am really grateful for the tool Linkjob.ai, and that's also why I'm sharing my entire interview experience here. Having an invisible AI assistant during the interview is indeed very convenient.

Question 1: Minimum Project Cost

The problem requires finding the lowest bid for each project, returning -1 if any project has no bids. I decided to use a dictionary to record the minimum bid amount for each project. After iterating through the projectId and bid arrays, for each project, if it’s not yet in the dictionary or the current bid is smaller, I update the minimum bid in the dictionary. Then I check all projects (from 0 to numProjects-1) to see if each has a corresponding minimum bid. If any are missing, return -1; otherwise, sum all the minimum bids to get the result.

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Question 2: Players Eligible for Level-Up

This question requires understanding the ranking rules: higher scores rank higher, equal scores share the same rank, and the next different score takes its position in the overall list. Note that players with a score of 0 cannot level up. My approach was to first sort the scores in descending order, then traverse the sorted list while maintaining the current rank and the previous score. For each score, skip if it’s 0. If the current score differs from the previous, update the rank to the current index + 1. Then check if the rank is less than or equal to k; if so, increment the count. Finally, return the count.

Question 3: Nested Dictionary Value Retrieval

The last question requires retrieving a value from a dictionary given a dot-separated path string. I first split the path into a list of keys, then started from the dictionary and traversed it step by step according to each key. At each step, if the current object is a dictionary and contains the key, I updated the current object to the corresponding value; otherwise, I returned None. After traversing all keys, I returned the final object.

I have to say, Linkjob AI is really easy to use. I used it during the interview after testing its undetectable feature with a friend beforehand. With just a click of the screenshot button, the AI provided detailed solution frameworks and complete code answers for the coding problems on my screen. I’ve successfully passed the test, with the HackerRank platform not detecting me at all.

Adobe HackerRank Test Format

Question Types

The Adobe HackerRank assessment for intern positions includes three fixed coding questions. The problems focus on fundamental and practical algorithm scenarios rather than overly complex or advanced topics. In my test, one question centered on hash table applications, another focused on sorting and logical processing, and the last one tested operations on nested data structures. I found this setup mainly evaluates core coding ability and reflects the kind of data-handling tasks an intern might actually encounter on the job.

Programming Language Choice

The platform supports popular languages like Python, Java, and C++. I chose Python since I’m more comfortable with it, and its concise syntax for dictionaries and lists helps save time. The interface layout was straightforward: the problem description on the left, the code editor on the right, and the output or error messages at the bottom. You can switch views anytime during the test without needing to scroll back and forth.

Preparation Strategies

Fundamentals

Here are some of the core concepts I reviewed:

Data Structures: Arrays, lists, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, and graphs.
Algorithms: Sorting (like bubble sort or quicksort), searching (like binary search), and problem-solving techniques.

What Worked

Here’s a quick list of what worked for me:

I set a daily goal for coding problems.
I reviewed my mistakes after every practice test.
I joined online forums to ask questions and share tips.
I used flashcards for quick revision.
I kept my workspace tidy to help me focus.

I also talked to friends who had taken the adobe hackerrank before. Their advice helped me avoid common mistakes and gave me a sense of what to expect.

Test-Day Tips

Time Management and Coding Approach

Here’s how I manage my time during the test:

Read all questions quickly at the start.
Solve the easiest question first.
Keep an eye on the clock.
Skip questions that take too long and return to them later.
Write clear and simple code.
Move on if I get stuck, then return if time allows.
Save a few minutes at the end to check my answers.

Debugging

Before submitting my code, I tested it with the sample inputs. Another important step was to look for possible edge cases. If something went wrong, I went through my logic step by step to find the issue.

FAQ

If I pass the Adobe HackerRank, what are the next interview stages like?

In my case, I received the next-round interview about two weeks later, and it was scheduled for the following week. The first 20 minutes were behavioral questions, and the remaining 40 minutes were coding. The behavioral part mainly focused on Adobe’s core values.

About two weeks later, I got a waitlist notification saying I had passed the interview but hadn’t been matched with a team. I thought that was the end, but a week later, I received an email from a talent partner, and two days after that, I got the offer call.

What if I applied to many Adobe positions but never got the OA?

My suggestion would be to try getting a referral. But from what I’ve seen, even some candidates who fully aced the OA didn’t get an interview invite afterward, so luck definitely plays a big part in the process.

If I pass the Adobe HackerRank test, how long will it take to get the results?

If you’ve been waiting for a while with no updates, it’s totally fine to send a follow-up email. In my case, I didn’t hear anything for two weeks after finishing the OA, so I reached out. And the next day, I got an interview invite. Actually, not just one, but two! One of the teams even reached out to me even though I hadn’t applied for their position before.