Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Software EngineerSoftware Engineer IIMedium to Hard

The Software Engineer II interview at Coursera is designed to assess a candidate's technical proficiency, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit within the company. It typically involves multiple rounds, including technical assessments, behavioral questions, and a system design component.

Rounds·3

Timeline·~14d

Experience·2 - 5 yrs

Comp band·US$110000 - US$150000

Interview time·150 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Problem-solving approach
  • Algorithmic thinking
  • Code quality and efficiency
  • Data structure knowledge

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Master fundamental data structures and algorithms (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash maps, heaps).
  2. Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or AlgoExpert, focusing on medium and hard difficulty.
  3. Review common system design concepts (databases, caching, load balancing, microservices, APIs).
  4. Prepare for behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  5. Understand Coursera's products, mission, and values.
  6. Research common interview questions for Software Engineer II roles at tech companies.
  7. Practice explaining your thought process clearly and concisely.
  8. Prepare questions to ask the interviewer about the role, team, and company culture.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 05 phases

01 / 05
01

Phase 01 of 05

Data Structures Fundamentals

Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Basic Algorithms. LeetCode Easy/Medium.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, hash tables) and basic algorithms (sorting, searching). Practice implementing these from scratch and analyze their time and space complexity. Solve LeetCode Easy and Medium problems related to these topics.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Given an array of integers, find the contiguous subarray with the largest sum.
  • Design a system to store and retrieve user profiles.
  • Explain the difference between TCP and UDP.
  • Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult stakeholder.
  • How would you implement a rate limiter?
  • What are the advantages of using microservices?
  • Describe your experience with automated testing.
  • How do you approach debugging a complex issue in production?
  • What is polymorphism?
  • Design a cache with an eviction policy.

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

Mountain View, CA

Interview focus

Strong emphasis on data structures and algorithms.Problem-solving approach and clarity of thought.Understanding of distributed systems and scalability.Collaboration and communication skills.

Common questions

  • How would you design a URL shortener?
  • Explain the difference between a process and a thread.
  • Describe a challenging technical problem you solved.
  • How do you handle disagreements within a team?

Tips

  • Be prepared to whiteboard complex algorithms.
  • Clearly articulate your thought process.
  • Research Coursera's tech stack and recent projects.
  • Prepare specific examples for behavioral questions.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

Med

Technical Interview (Coding) · 45 min · Software Engineer

This round focuses on your core programming skills. You will be asked to solve one or two coding problems, typically involving data structures and algorithms. The interviewer will assess your ability to understand the problem, devise an efficient solution, write clean code, and explain your reasoning. Expect to discuss time and space complexity.

What they look for

Strong grasp of fundamental data structures and algorithms.Logical and systematic approach to problem-solving.Clean and readable code.Ability to communicate technical ideas effectively.

Evaluation

  • Correctness of the solution
  • Efficiency of the solution (time and space complexity)
  • Clarity and organization of the code
  • Ability to explain the solution and trade-offs

Sample questions

  • Given a binary tree, invert the tree.

    Data StructuresTreesRecursion

  • Find the kth largest element in an unsorted array.

    Data StructuresArraysSortingHeaps

Prep for this round

  1. 01Practice coding problems on a whiteboard or shared editor.
  2. 02Be prepared to explain your approach before writing code.
  3. 03Think out loud and communicate your thought process.
  4. 04Test your code with edge cases.

Common rejection reasons

  • ×Inability to articulate thought process.
  • ×Incorrect or inefficient algorithm implementation.
  • ×Lack of understanding of time/space complexity.
  • ×Poor coding style or syntax errors.

DSA

Coding questions at Coursera.

Frequently reported on Coursera loops

View all at Coursera

Other guides

More at Coursera.