Scale Engineer

Fellow

Software EngineerG14Hard

The Airbnb Fellow Software Engineer interview process for the G14 level is a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation designed to identify candidates with exceptional technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and a strong cultural fit with Airbnb's values. The process typically involves multiple rounds, including technical assessments, behavioral interviews, and a final hiring manager discussion. The goal is to assess a candidate's ability to design, build, and maintain scalable and reliable software systems, as well as their capacity to collaborate effectively within a team and contribute to Airbnb's mission.

Rounds·5

Timeline·~21d

Experience·10 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$180000 - US$250000

Interview time·255 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Technical Proficiency: Depth and breadth of knowledge in relevant technologies.
  • Problem-Solving: Ability to analyze complex problems and devise effective solutions.
  • System Design: Capacity to design scalable, reliable, and maintainable systems.
  • Collaboration & Communication: Effectiveness in working with others and conveying ideas.
  • Leadership & Mentorship: Potential to guide and influence technical direction and team members.
  • Cultural Fit: Alignment with Airbnb's values and mission.

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Thoroughly review data structures and algorithms, focusing on common patterns and complexities.
  2. Practice system design problems, considering scalability, reliability, and trade-offs.
  3. Prepare specific examples from your past experience that demonstrate your skills and align with Airbnb's values (e.g., leadership, collaboration, problem-solving).
  4. Understand Airbnb's business, products, and engineering challenges.
  5. Research common interview questions for senior software engineering roles.
  6. Practice explaining your thought process clearly and concisely.
  7. Prepare questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company culture.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Data Structures and Algorithms

Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Algorithms fundamentals. Practice coding problems.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash tables) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, graph traversal). Practice problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, and Cracking the Coding Interview.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Describe a time you had to make a significant technical decision with incomplete information.
  • How would you design a system to handle real-time updates for millions of users?
  • Tell me about a project where you had to collaborate with cross-functional teams. What were the challenges and how did you overcome them?
  • What are your thoughts on microservices architecture? What are the pros and cons?
  • How do you ensure the quality and reliability of the software you build?
  • Describe a situation where you disagreed with your manager or a senior engineer. How did you handle it?
  • How would you approach debugging a performance issue in a distributed system?
  • What are your favorite programming languages and why?
  • How do you stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends in software engineering?
  • Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

San Francisco

Interview focus

Deep understanding of distributed systems and scalability.Experience with large-scale data processing and analysis.Ability to mentor and lead junior engineers.Strong communication and collaboration skills.

Common questions

  • How would you design a distributed caching system for Airbnb's listing service?
  • Discuss a time you had to deal with a major production incident. What was your role, what did you learn, and how did you prevent it from happening again?
  • Describe your experience with A/B testing and how you would set up an experiment to test a new feature on the Airbnb platform.

Tips

  • Emphasize your experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure).
  • Be prepared to discuss your contributions to open-source projects.
  • Highlight any experience you have with managing or leading technical teams.
  • Showcase your ability to think about the business impact of technical decisions.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

Expand a step for evaluation criteria, sample questions, and prep notes.

DSA

Coding questions at Airbnb.

Frequently reported on Airbnb loops

View all at Airbnb

Other guides

More at Airbnb.