I was reading about Data Engineer II interview experiences on this platform. Everyone who interviewed had 3+ years of experience. I have just 10 months of work exp and have been scheduled for DE II onsite. Can you tell me if the difficulty level is in line with my experience? What should I expect tomorrow?
@wDaz75 Why do you say there is low supply? I found number of applicants on LinkedIn for DE >> SWE at Amazon. It is almost 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. The same holds true or even worse for DS roles too.
I can’t vouch for the numbers you cite, but many DE applicants are rejected at the phone screen off the basics. And I mean the most basic of basics, like “how would you get a count of row by month and year off a certain date column?” or “what is a primary key?”. Many of these DE candidates are also either 100% unqualified (“QA lead at XCorp with various JavaScript libraries”) or, while they could be a potential candidate, they don’t have enough experience with the relevant skills (example, a BA who has only used provided datasets without optimization or pipeline building experience). When you pull raw numbers on job class internally, SDE’s far outnumber DE’s
DE ability at Amazon is erratic so you could possess the actual skills to deliver. It’s erratic because DE isn’t as standardized as SDE or other roles that have had years (decades) to sort themselves out. I looped with 2 years experience. Amazon emphasizes leadership principles hard, so have a scenario for every single one. For the tech side, that could be literally anything - pure SQL, datawarehouse fundamentals, data modeling, high-level systems design, possibly some python.
High level Systems design? What is that? Also I am not able to find any questions on glassdoor like usual SDEs questions. Do you know what to expect? Also will SQL questions be very difficult as the position is for L5? Also let's say they think I am not suitable for L5, will they offer L4 or it will be a direct reject?
By systems design, I mean basically light SDE work. “Project managers want to be told what reports will be late or have data quality issues every day. How would you design an automated early warning system?” Count on SQL questions being generally medium-hard difficulty. If you know what window functions are, then you’re probably good. The questions really vary by team, which is why you don’t see much standardization on questions. I don’t have specific examples without knowing your team/role . In my experience and observation, teams generally will offer L4 if you don’t meet L5 for DE. DE’s are very (VERY) hard to get. Some teams have been looking for 8+ months, and part of that long search is simply because of the low supply.