Scale Engineer

Grade 10

Software EngineerSoftware Engineer 3Medium to Hard

This interview process is for a Software Engineer 3 position at Autodesk, focusing on assessing technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit for a Grade 10 level.

Rounds·4

Timeline·~14d

Experience·5 - 8 yrs

Comp band·US$120000 - US$160000

Interview time·180 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Problem-solving skills
  • Algorithmic proficiency
  • Data structures knowledge
  • Code quality and efficiency
  • Debugging skills

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Review fundamental data structures and algorithms.
  2. Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or Coderbyte.
  3. Study system design principles and common architectural patterns.
  4. Prepare to discuss past projects in detail, focusing on your contributions and challenges.
  5. Research Autodesk's products, values, and recent news.
  6. Understand common behavioral interview questions and prepare STAR method responses.
  7. Brush up on your chosen programming language(s) and relevant frameworks.
  8. Familiarize yourself with cloud computing concepts and services.
  9. Practice explaining technical concepts clearly and concisely.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 05 phases

01 / 05
01

Phase 01 of 05

Data Structures and Algorithms

Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Algorithms fundamentals. Practice 20-30 LeetCode problems (Easy/Medium).

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash maps) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, recursion). Practice implementing these from scratch and analyze their time and space complexity. Solve at least 20-30 problems on LeetCode (Easy/Medium).

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Design a URL shortening service.
  • Implement a function to find the k-th largest element in an unsorted array.
  • Describe a time you disagreed with a teammate. How did you handle it?
  • How would you design a system to handle real-time notifications for a social media platform?
  • What are the trade-offs between SQL and NoSQL databases?
  • Explain the concept of polymorphism with a real-world example.
  • How do you approach debugging a performance issue in a web application?
  • Tell me about a challenging project you worked on and what you learned from it.
  • What are your thoughts on microservices architecture?
  • How do you ensure the security of a web application?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

North America (USA, Canada)

Interview focus

Deep understanding of distributed systems and cloud-native architectures.Experience with large-scale data processing and analytics.Proficiency in performance optimization and scalability challenges.Strong grasp of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.

Common questions

  • How would you design a system to handle real-time collaboration for a design application?
  • Describe a complex technical challenge you faced and how you overcame it.
  • What are your thoughts on microservices vs. monolithic architecture for a large-scale product like AutoCAD?
  • How do you ensure code quality and maintainability in a large team?
  • Discuss your experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and their services relevant to our products.

Tips

  • Emphasize experience with scalable cloud solutions and distributed systems.
  • Be prepared to discuss specific examples of optimizing performance in large systems.
  • Highlight any contributions to open-source projects or significant technical blogs.
  • Showcase familiarity with the specific cloud provider most relevant to the office location (e.g., AWS for Seattle, Azure for Toronto).

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

Med

Technical Interview (Coding) · 45 min · Software Engineer / Senior Software Engineer

This round focuses on assessing your core programming skills and problem-solving abilities. You will be presented with one or two coding challenges, typically involving data structures and algorithms. The interviewer will expect you to write clean, efficient, and well-tested code, explaining your thought process throughout. Be prepared to discuss the time and space complexity of your solutions and consider various edge cases.

What they look for

Logical thinkingAbility to translate requirements into codeUnderstanding of fundamental data structures and algorithmsClean and efficient coding style

Evaluation

  • Correctness of the solution
  • Efficiency (time and space complexity)
  • Code readability and maintainability
  • Problem-solving approach
  • Handling of edge cases

Sample questions

  • Given a binary tree, find its inorder traversal.

    Data StructuresTreesRecursion

  • Implement a function to reverse a linked list.

    Data StructuresLinked ListsPointers

  • Find the first non-repeating character in a string.

    StringsHash MapsTime Complexity

Prep for this round

  1. 01Practice coding problems regularly.
  2. 02Understand the time and space complexity of common algorithms.
  3. 03Be comfortable explaining your code and thought process.
  4. 04Practice writing code on a whiteboard or shared editor.

Common rejection reasons

  • ×Inability to articulate thought process clearly.
  • ×Incorrect or inefficient algorithmic solutions.
  • ×Poor coding practices (e.g., lack of comments, poor variable naming).
  • ×Failure to consider edge cases.

DSA

Coding questions at Autodesk.

Frequently reported on Autodesk loops

View all at Autodesk

Other guides

More at Autodesk.