Tiktok | Data Engineer (L2-1) | San Jose

Interview process started with a recruiter reachout on Linkedin. Total process took around 4 weeks.

1st technical phone screen: 60 mins. 1 medium sql and 1 easy python coding question.

SQL: There are 2 tables: 'lots' and 'bids'. Write a query that returns a list of all available lots with the number of bids, the current lot price, and the current lot winner.

Coding: You are given a sorted array consisting of only integers where every element appears exactly twice, except for one element which appears exactly once. Return the single element that appears.

Discussion on sql query optimization and time and space complexity for the coding problem.

2nd round: 45 mins. 1 medium coding

Coding: https://leetcode.com/problems/longest-palindromic-substring/

Discussion on resume and past projects for 15 mins. 25 mins for coding.

3rd round: 60 mins. System design

Design a data pipeline to ingest data from a livestream. Design tables and write sql queries for the given functional requirements. Detailed discussion on architecture, database selection, scaling, optimisation etc.

4th round: 60 mins. Manager round

Discussion on past projects and experience. Some behavioural questions. Small but open ended design problem to gauge understanding of cross AZ data transfer and data security understanding. Deep dive into Spark and its optimisations.

5th round: 30 mins. HR round

Couple of "tell me about a time when" type questions. Also some basic hosekeeping questions around job location, visa etc.

Offer:

220k base. 315k TC
YOE 3.5 years