Backend Engineer (SDE 1)

1. Programming Basics:

• Programming language related questions - Python/Go experience is good to have.
• Questions around our tech-stack - Kafka/AWS/MySQL/etc.

2. Data Structures:

• Questions related to data structures and algorithms - typically in a time-based interview format, to assess critical thinking around:

• Reading/clarifying the problem statement.
• Considering edge-cases.
• Dividing the problem into sub-problems - with smaller, better testable functions.
• Variable/function naming conventions.
• Time complexity - Should be able to explain the time-complexity. But, as our scale doesn’t always need very optimised code, we don’t need the most optimal algorithm.
• Space complexity - Should be able to explain space-complexity.

3. Database Schema Design:

• This is helpful to understand lower-level design skills, as well as database management and optimisation techniques.
• Familiarity with relational database management systems (RDBMS) such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or Oracle, and experience in designing and implementing normalised database schemas is good to have.
• Additionally, knowledge of non-relational database systems such as MongoDB or Cassandra is a plus.
• Experience in data modelling, normalisation, denormalisation, indexing, and query optimisation is also a plus.

4. Testing and Debugging:

• Questions related to unit testing, integration testing, and debugging techniques

• 1-3 years of hands-on experience in designing, developing, testing, and deploying small to mid-scale applications in any language or stack. 2+ years of recent and active software development experience

• Should be clear and concise in communication

• Should be able to express their thoughts/opinions clearly.