The first thing I had to do was a take-home HackerRank, and that set the tone pretty quickly. It had 3 to 4 SQL questions and 2 Python coding questions, so it was less about chatting through my background and more about whether I could just get through the work cleanly and efficiently. After that, I moved into a virtual onsite with five rounds. The mix was pretty broad: one round on DSA-style coding, one more general coding round, one data modeling round, one behavioral round, and one end-to-end system design round. It felt like they were trying to cover both hands-on implementation and the bigger picture of how I think about data systems.
The hardest parts for me were the coding rounds because they were live and there wasn’t much room to wander. The data modeling and system design rounds were also important, but they were more about explaining tradeoffs and structure than grinding through syntax. I appreciated that the process was fairly well-rounded, but it was definitely a lot to prepare for because each round tested something different. I didn’t get an offer in the end, so my main takeaway is to be ready for a SQL-heavy take-home and then a very broad onsite that includes both coding and architecture, not just one or the other.
Prep tip from this candidate
Drill timed SQL take-home style problems with 3 to 4 queries plus a couple of Python tasks, then practice explaining a data model and an end-to-end system design out loud. Don’t focus only on DSA, because the onsite also included a separate general coding round and behavioral round.
