Google System Design Interview
Previously I have interviewed with Google and failed, especially in system design. I'm planning to interview again this year, targeting L5. So, I have the below questions regarding system design: - Is there any advantage to starting small, e.g. using a single relational DB etc. and then slowly adding more complexity, or should I just dive in and assume Google scale and start with a horizontally scalable system to save myself some time? - If applicable, can I use existing systems in the design, e.g. ZooKeeper, Cassandra, S3, Kafka, or even Google systems such as BigTable, Chubby etc.? Or do I need to design everything from scratch? - How important is discussing alternatives and tradeoffs? - Is system design more important than other interviews to determine level? Thanks in advance! YOE: 12 TC: 250 #google #interview #career @Google
Ask your interviewer for details - you're being evaluated for that as well.
I know so many L6 in Amazon have TC more than 300K,you are downplayed op
$250k is bottom of band for SWE L6. OP probably got promoted internally, which bumps you to bottom of the next level band. To go higher you need to get top performance reviews then wait 1-2yrs for new grants to vest. Only join Amazon at L6+ to get that high band offer at terminal level.
Definitely use existing systems in the design. If the task is to design Instagram then design Instagram not the database, messaging queue, blob storage it needs. But point out limitations of the systems you use and try to optimize it if you can. Facebook and Instagram use plenty of systems (Cassandra, Postgres, RabbitMQ, etc.) in their actual implementation
With such questions on your mind, I wonder how did you even land L6 at amazon. Seems like the bar is shitty in USA.
Are you in India? And is the bar way higher there?
Yes I am in India. I never interviewed for in position in USA. but I have heard that in general the hiring bar in India is higher than that in USA. Getting from L5 SD 2 to L6 sd3 is a big jump and needs lots of efforts from your end. in my team we couldn't manage to hire an sd3 since last 2 years because the bar is very high. we ended up getting someone move internally into our team as sd3.
What level are you at Amazon and how many years at Amazon?
L6, 3 years at AMZN