Atlassian P30 vs P40 vs P50 Interview: What Each Level Is Tested On (Prep Checklist)
Every jump at Atlassian raises your pay by about one and a half times. But there is a catch: a separate values interview that many people fail even after strong coding rounds.
This page is a simple checklist: find your level, tick the boxes, and practise with the free links in each section.
Pay at Each Atlassian Level (India)
| Level | Also called | Median total pay / year | Main thing they test |
|---|---|---|---|
| P30 | P3 · entry, about 1–2 years | ₹43.7 L | Clean code, and a small real-world feature |
| P40 | P4 · about 5–6 years | ₹70.5 L | Coding + often system design + values stories |
| P50 (Senior) | P5 · about 8–9 years | ₹1.09 Cr | Design trade-offs + stories where you led others |
| P60 | – | ₹2.04 Cr | Not covered here |
Medians from levels.fyi for Atlassian Software Engineer, India page, last updated 6 Nov 2026. "Total pay" means salary + stock + bonus, per year. Roughly, P30 is like Google L3 or Amazon SDE-1, P40 like L4 or SDE-2, and P50 like L5 or SDE-3. Your offer can be higher or lower.
Why this matters: P40 pays about 1.6x P30, and P50 pays about 1.5x P40. P50 is about 2.5x P30. Coding alone will not get you there. If your values round is weak, strong code usually does not save you.
How the Atlassian Loop Works
- Before the loop: a recruiter call, and often a Karat screen (a first coding test run by an outside company).
- Coding round: usually data structures and algorithms problems, solved out loud.
- Code design (craft) round: you build or extend a small, real-world feature in clean code that is easy to extend. It is not a puzzle. Think "a parking lot" or "a rate limiter", not "reverse a linked list".
- System design: often for more experienced levels (P40 and up). The examples candidates report include a Jira notification service and a shared editor.
- The values interview: a scored round on its own, usually 45–60 minutes, often run by someone from another team. It is tied to Atlassian's five published values (see the story bank below).
- Decision: a hiring committee often reads all the feedback together.
The exact round split per level is not officially published. Candidate reports describe one general loop, with the craft rounds matched to your level. Treat the split above as "usually", not a rule.
Start here on InterviewSkool:
- A step-by-step prep planner built around your dates (sign in first): InterviewSkool prep planner
- How to answer "Tell me about a time…" (you will need it for the values round): tell me about a time
P30 (P3) Checklist: Clean Code
What they check: can you write correct, clean code, build a small real feature, and tell honest stories about your work? Usually coding + code design + a values round.
- I can solve medium problems on arrays, strings, hash maps, trees and graphs in about 30 minutes.
- I talk out loud: I say my idea, the time/space cost, then code. No silent typing.
- In a code design round I can build a small feature (for example a booking system or a simple rule engine) with clear class names and small functions.
- I handle edge cases (empty input, duplicates, bad values) and test my own code with a small example.
- I ask 1–2 clarifying questions before I start, and I make the code easy to extend ("what if a new type is added later?").
- I have 3 values stories ready (college or internship projects are fine): one where I was honest about a mistake, one where I helped a teammate, one where I thought about the user.
Practise on InterviewSkool (free):
- 48 Atlassian coding questions (5 easy, 33 medium, 10 hard), all 48 with a full breakdown, free to browse
- Full DSA problem list by topic
- Topic guides: arrays & strings · hash maps · two pointers · sliding window · intervals · trees & graphs · dynamic programming
- Your intro answer: tell me about yourself
Red flag: code that works but is one giant function with vague names. In a code design round that reads as "not ready to work in a shared codebase".
P40 (P4) Checklist: Adds System Design and Values
What they check: everything from P30, plus (often) a system design round, plus values stories that show you cared about the customer and told the truth when it was hard.
- All the P30 boxes above, done faster, with fewer hints.
- In a design round I can: list requirements → estimate numbers (users, requests per second, storage) → draw a simple design → go deep on the hardest part.
- I can design the APIs and the data model (tables, keys, which database and why).
- I know when to use a cache, a queue (a line that holds jobs until a worker is free) and sharding (splitting data across machines), and what each one costs.
- I have practised at least 5 full designs out loud, 45 minutes each, for example a notification service for Jira, a tagging system, or a rate limiter.
- I have values stories about a time I was open and honest (even when it was awkward), a time I put the customer first, and a time I made a change instead of waiting for someone else.
Practise on InterviewSkool (free):
- 11 Atlassian system design questions reported by candidates (Sept 2025 – Sept 2026): 2 beginner, 5 intermediate, 4 advanced
- Case studies that match Atlassian's world: notification service · tagging system · rate limiter · access control (RBAC) · audit logs · Jira ticket to PR (all case studies)
- The building blocks: what is system design · caching · message queues · SQL vs NoSQL · rate limiting
- Story shape: STAR method
Red flag: naming tools ("Kafka, Redis") without saying why. Or values stories that sound polished but have no real mistake, no real customer and no real number.
P50 (P5, Senior) Checklist: Judgment and Leading
What they check: deeper design trade-offs, and stories where you led people and changed how a team works. This is a reasonable reading of senior roles, not a published Atlassian rule.
- In design rounds I drive the interview: I pick the hardest part myself and go deep without being asked.
- For every big choice I give two options and why I picked one (for example "strong vs eventual consistency" for a shared editor where many people type at once).
- I talk about what breaks: two people editing the same thing, retries causing duplicates, a region going down, and how I would notice.
- I have a story where I led others without being their manager, and a story where I changed how my team works (a new process, a new standard, a fix to a bad habit).
- I have a story about giving hard feedback openly, or admitting a big miss and what I changed after it.
- I have a story about balancing speed and people: when I protected my team from burnout, or said no to a rushed plan (Build with heart and balance).
Practise on InterviewSkool (free):
- Shared-editor style designs: collaborative editing · cache hot keys · metrics & monitoring · security monitoring
- Trade-off guides: CAP theorem · consistent hashing · database sharding · load balancing
- Leadership stories: showing leadership in interviews
Red flag: a perfect diagram with no trade-offs. Or stories where you only did your own tasks well. At P50 that reads as a strong P40.
Your Values Story Bank
Atlassian publishes 5 company values. Write 5–7 stories and reuse them. Each should fit the STAR shape: Situation → Task → Action (what you did) → Result (with a number). Pick the right size of story for your level.
| Atlassian value | P30 story | P40 story | P50 story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open company, no bullshit (Be honest and share what you know) | Told your mentor about a mistake early | Shared bad news with your manager, with a plan | Gave hard feedback openly and kept trust |
| Build with heart and balance (Care about quality and about people) | Cleaned up code or docs for the next person | Protected quality under a deadline | Stopped a rushed plan that would burn the team out |
| Don't #@!% the customer (Think of users first) | Changed something after user feedback | Used data to change a product plan | Pushed back on a launch that would hurt many users |
| Play, as a team (Win together, help others) | Helped a teammate or new joiner | Worked across two teams to ship | Led people from other teams toward one goal |
| Be the change you seek (Do not wait; fix it) | Fixed a small problem nobody owned | Started a new test or process that stuck | Changed how your team works |
The values above are quoted from atlassian.com/company/values. The grid is our suggested way to match stories to levels, not an Atlassian rubric.
More help: common behavioral questions · why this company · tell me about a time
Quick Self-Check: Which Level Are You Ready For?
| Question | P30 | P40 | P50 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can you solve a medium coding problem in 30 min, out loud? | must | must | must |
| Can you build a small real feature in clean, easy-to-extend code? | must | must | must |
| Can you design a notification service in 45 min? | nice | must | must |
| Do you give 2 options and a reason for every big choice? | – | nice | must |
| Do you have a story for each of the 5 values, with a real mistake in at least one? | nice | must | must |
| Do your stories show you led others and changed how a team works? | – | nice | must |
If you can't tick every must for the level you're applying to, that's your prep list. Go back to that level's checklist above.
A Simple 4-Week Plan
| Week | P30 | P40 / P50 |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 15 Atlassian easy + medium questions; write 3 values stories | 10 Atlassian coding questions; learn caching, queues, sharding |
| Week 2 | 15 more: trees, graphs, DP; build one small feature in clean code | 3 case studies out loud (notification, tagging, rate limiter); write 5 values stories |
| Week 3 | Timed practice: 2 problems in 60 min; say your stories out loud | Collaborative editing and audit logs designs; add leadership and "changed a team" stories |
| Week 4 | 2–3 full mock interviews | 2–3 full mock interviews at your target level |
Want a plan built around your own dates and weak spots? Sign in first, then use the InterviewSkool prep planner.
Test Yourself at Your Level Before Atlassian Does
Do a mock interview with Alex, our AI interviewer: coding mocks, and system design mocks at SDE-2, SDE-3 or Staff level, with a score out of 100 and feedback on exactly what kept you from the next level. Your first demo interview is free. Try Atlassian questions: coding · system design
Pay figures are levels.fyi medians for Atlassian India (page last updated 6 Nov 2026) and change over time. Round counts and the split by level are typical, not fixed; each team runs its loop a little differently. The "many people fail the values round" idea comes from candidate prep guides, not from Atlassian. InterviewSkool is not affiliated with Atlassian, and this is not an official Atlassian document.