Data Engineers, please read

New
gKRp62

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gKRp62
Mar 19, 2020 23 Comments

Hello Fellow Data Engineers,

Please guide me through this tough phase. I have been interviewing for past 4 to 5 months but didn't even get through the first round, let alone on site. Not sure what i am doing wrong but its so depressing. Never the less i lift myself up and keep grinding, hoping i will see light at the end of the tunnel.

I am heavy on Sql,ETL,Google cloud/Big Query and Airflow. I picked up python from code academy and solved easy string related questions on LC.

I have interviewed with Lyft, Affirm, Gusto, Facebook and some other companies. Failed at the tech screening. In retro, i realize there were some fairly easy questions which i didn't solve.

People who recently interviewed for Data Engineer position. Can you PLEASE shed some light on your preparation strategy ? What areas of python should i focus and how can i sharpen my sql skills to solve fast?

Please suggest the companies that you know hire/hiring DE.

YOE - 5 years
@Lyft @Facebook @Square @Amazon @Google @Apple @Twitter @Microsoft @Uber

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TOP 23 Comments
  • Indeed
    annonengg

    Go to company page Indeed

    annonengg
    Data Modeling is probably the single most important skill, besides SQL, to master for a Data Engineer. Every single company I've interviewed at wants your DM concepts to be crystal clear. A close second will be a good business/product sense.

    Coding questions are hardly ever of high difficulty. Data Engineers focus way too much on them while prepping because they don't usually actively code in their job.

    Here's my take on the important tech skills to master to crack DE interviews:

    1. Data Modeling
    2. Advanced SQL (performance tuning included)
    3. Business/Product sense. Some companies call this module requirement gathering.
    4. Programming. Strong basics - lists, dictionaries, tuples, strings etc. Don't waste time in tough problems.
    Mar 19, 2020 7
    • New
      gKRp62

      Go to company page New

      gKRp62
      OP
      @annonengg
      Sorry in case i confused you. I guess what i am trying to ask is how do i get to a point to fetch data from a list or dictionary by coding, like i query a table using joins and aggregate. I understand we can use libraries like pandas, but sometimes we are not allowed to use libraries.
      I have practiced LC easy string related questions and lists,dictionaries and strings on w3 resource but that's not enough to solve above scenarios i guess.
      I can DM if you want me to. Python problems is where i am struggling so i really would like to sharpen my python skills for DE.
      Mar 24, 2020
    • Adobe
      engineerlx

      Go to company page Adobe

      engineerlx
      Also, ETL round as well. Usually Python easy leetcode, SQL medium to hard leetcode, data warehouse and ETL is enough to pass a fb l4 interview.
      3d
  • Twilio
    twilno

    Go to company page Twilio

    twilno
    LC as much as you can and that’s pretty much it nowadays honestly
    Mar 19, 2020 4
    • New
      gKRp62

      Go to company page New

      gKRp62
      OP
      Yea I filter to string/array, frequently asked easy questions. Takes some time to solve Medium. Some companies are giving take home challenges.
      Recently I was asked to write a query to fetch slightly complicated data from a table. No problem,I came up with a couple of different joins and aggregation to get the result.
      Now for coding, The same table was in a list with nested dictionaries. I had to come up with a python code to achieve the same result as sql query.
      Mar 19, 2020
    • LogMeIn
      ghsuyvg

      Go to company page LogMeIn

      ghsuyvg
      you can expect these Data related questions that you need to do in sql, python and spark.
      Mar 19, 2020
  • Uber
    ciOrona

    Go to company page Uber

    ciOrona
    Are you already a DE? If you aren’t getting through the first round - it might not be a background fit for the larger companies. Obv also LC.
    Mar 19, 2020 1
  • T-Mobile
    aedsc

    Go to company page T-Mobile

    PRE
    Deloitte, Accenture
    aedsc
    OP, I am having the same issue as you stated. We are not allowed to use libraries like pandas in interviews which is generally used in day to day job. I couldn’t find much help from leetcode as well for data engineering.
    Mar 24, 2020 0
  • Daimler / Eng
    Ha@@@

    Go to company page Daimler Eng

    Ha@@@
    Just LC for few months. Datawarehouse design according to business requirements,SQL and Python
    Mar 19, 2020 0