EM Loop: Problem Solving and Design Interview

Let’s learn how to solve problems and clear design interviews.

While it may seem daunting, especially if you haven’t worked on a large-scale system, your interviewer is well aware that the ideal candidate won’t necessarily have a lot of experience. This is a tech design interview that involves designing a system from scratch using some very basic requirements. You’re expected to:

  1. Clarify requirements
  2. Design a major system interface
  3. Design the data model
  4. Define major components
  5. Identify and resolve bottlenecks

You’re not expected to have a lot of experience working on large-scale systems. However, you are expected to have the right knowledge and be ready to apply it.

Note: You do need to prepare for this part of the interview. This is a rapidly evolving discipline, and the right candidate would keep up to date with the latest developments.

In system design interviews, there aren’t really any right or wrong answers. The interviewers are simply trying to gauge how your thought process works when you’re presented with a problem. Treat it as a brainstorming session with a colleague where you figure out the details, requirements, and scope of a large-scale system you’ve been tasked with designing.

However, there’s no point in doing well in this interview if you don’t shine through during the management interviews. Any talented software engineer can architect a service, but not all of them can be great managers.