Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Software EngineerFellowVery High

This interview process is for a Software Engineer position at the Fellow level at Akamai. It is designed to assess a candidate's deep technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, leadership potential, and cultural fit within the organization.

Rounds·4

Timeline·~21d

Experience·10 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$180000 - US$250000

Interview time·225 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Depth and breadth of technical knowledge.
  • Problem-solving approach and analytical skills.
  • System design and architectural thinking.
  • Leadership and mentorship capabilities.
  • Communication and collaboration skills.
  • Cultural alignment and values.
  • Impact and ownership.

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Thoroughly review your resume and be prepared to discuss every project in detail.
  2. Brush up on core computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, operating systems, networking.
  3. Study distributed systems concepts: consensus, replication, consistency models, fault tolerance.
  4. Practice system design problems, focusing on scalability, reliability, and performance.
  5. Prepare behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  6. Research Akamai's products, services, and recent news to understand our business context.
  7. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company.
  8. Understand Akamai's culture and values and how you align with them.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 05 phases

01 / 05
01

Phase 01 of 05

Foundational CS Concepts

Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Algorithms (Medium/Hard)

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures and algorithms. Review common algorithms (sorting, searching, graph traversal) and data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, hash tables, heaps). Practice problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, focusing on medium to hard difficulty.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Design a distributed caching system.
  • How would you design a URL shortener service?
  • Explain the trade-offs between SQL and NoSQL databases.
  • Describe a challenging technical problem you solved and your approach.
  • How do you handle production incidents and post-mortems?
  • What are the principles of good API design?
  • Tell me about a time you had to lead a technical project.
  • How do you mentor other engineers?
  • What are your thoughts on microservices vs. monolith architectures?
  • How would you scale a social media feed service?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

US (e.g., Cambridge, MA; Santa Clara, CA)

Interview focus

Deep understanding of distributed systems and cloud architecture.Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and mentor teams.Strategic thinking and long-term technical vision.Impact on business objectives through technical solutions.

Common questions

  • Discuss a complex distributed system you designed and scaled.
  • How would you approach optimizing a critical microservice for latency and throughput?
  • Describe a time you mentored junior engineers on a challenging project.
  • What are your thoughts on the future of cloud-native architectures?
  • How do you handle technical disagreements within a senior engineering team?

Tips

  • Be prepared to discuss your most impactful contributions at a deep technical level.
  • Highlight instances where you influenced technical direction or strategy.
  • Showcase your ability to think about system design from a business impact perspective.
  • Emphasize your experience with large-scale, high-availability systems.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Akamai.

Frequently reported on Akamai loops

View all at Akamai

Other guides

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