Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Software EngineerL6Hard

Asana's Software Engineer L6 interview process is designed to assess a candidate's technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, system design skills, and cultural fit within the company. The process typically involves multiple rounds, including technical interviews, a system design interview, and a behavioral/managerial interview.

Rounds·3

Timeline·~14d

Experience·5 - 10 yrs

Comp band·US$170000 - US$220000

Interview time·150 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Technical Proficiency: Depth of knowledge in relevant programming languages, data structures, algorithms, and system design principles.
  • Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to analyze complex problems, break them down, and devise efficient and scalable solutions.
  • System Design: Capacity to design robust, scalable, and maintainable distributed systems, considering trade-offs.
  • Communication: Clarity and effectiveness in explaining technical concepts, thought processes, and solutions.
  • Collaboration & Teamwork: Ability to work effectively with others, share knowledge, and contribute positively to team dynamics.
  • Leadership & Mentorship: Potential to guide and mentor junior engineers, and influence technical direction.
  • Cultural Fit: Alignment with Asana's values, such as transparency, collaboration, and customer focus.

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Review fundamental computer science concepts: data structures, algorithms, operating systems, and databases.
  2. Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, focusing on medium to hard difficulty.
  3. Study system design principles: scalability, reliability, availability, consistency, and common architectural patterns (e.g., microservices, load balancing, caching).
  4. Prepare to discuss your past projects in detail, focusing on your contributions, technical challenges, and solutions.
  5. Understand Asana's product, mission, and values. Research their engineering blog and open-source contributions.
  6. Practice behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  7. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer 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. Solve 2-3 problems daily.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash tables) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, graph traversal). Practice implementing these in your preferred language and analyze their time and space complexity. Solve 2-3 problems per day.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Design a system to manage user tasks and project timelines for a collaborative platform.
  • How would you optimize the performance of a web application experiencing high traffic?
  • Describe a challenging bug you encountered and how you debugged it.
  • What are the trade-offs between monolithic and microservices architectures?
  • How do you ensure data consistency in a distributed system?
  • Tell me about a time you had to influence a technical decision within your team.
  • What are your thoughts on asynchronous programming?
  • How would you design a notification system that scales to millions of users?
  • Describe your experience with cloud platforms like AWS or GCP.
  • How do you approach code reviews?
  • What is your experience with testing frameworks and methodologies?
  • Tell me about a time you failed and what you learned from it.

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

San Francisco

Interview focus

Deep understanding of distributed systems and scalability.Experience with cloud-native technologies (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker).Strong problem-solving and debugging skills in complex environments.Ability to lead technical discussions and mentor other engineers.

Common questions

  • How would you design a system to handle real-time notifications for a large user base?
  • Discuss a complex technical challenge you faced and how you overcame it.
  • Describe your experience with distributed systems and their challenges.
  • How do you approach performance optimization in a large-scale application?
  • Tell me about a time you had to mentor junior engineers.

Tips

  • Familiarize yourself with Asana's tech stack and common architectural patterns.
  • Prepare to discuss your contributions to open-source projects or significant technical initiatives.
  • Be ready to articulate your thought process clearly and concisely, especially during system design.
  • Highlight instances where you've demonstrated leadership and mentorship.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Asana.

Frequently reported on Asana loops

View all at Asana

Other guides

More at Asana.