Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Software EngineerL2Medium

The Software Engineer L2 interview at Criteo 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 discussion about past projects and experiences. The goal is to identify candidates who can contribute effectively to Criteo's engineering teams and uphold the company's values.

Rounds·3

Timeline·~7d

Experience·2 - 5 yrs

Comp band·US$100000 - US$130000

Interview time·150 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Problem-solving skills
  • Technical knowledge (data structures, algorithms, system design)
  • Coding proficiency
  • Communication skills
  • Teamwork and collaboration
  • Cultural fit and alignment with Criteo's values

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Review fundamental computer science concepts (data structures, algorithms, complexity analysis).
  2. Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank, focusing on medium-difficulty problems.
  3. Prepare to discuss your past projects in detail, highlighting your contributions and the challenges you faced.
  4. Brush up on system design principles, especially those relevant to Criteo's business (e.g., ad tech, real-time bidding, large-scale data processing).
  5. Understand Criteo's company culture, values, and recent news.
  6. Prepare behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  7. Think about questions you want to ask the interviewer about the role, team, and company.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Data Structures and Algorithms

Weeks 1-2: DSA fundamentals and practice (2-3 problems/day).

Weeks 1-2: Focus on Data Structures and Algorithms. Cover arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash tables, heaps, sorting, searching, dynamic programming, and greedy algorithms. Practice problems related to each topic, aiming for 2-3 problems per day. Understand time and space complexity analysis.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Write a function to find the kth largest element in an unsorted array.
  • Design a URL shortening service like bit.ly.
  • Tell me about a time you disagreed with a technical decision made by your team. What did you do?
  • How would you optimize a slow database query?
  • Explain the difference between a process and a thread.
  • Describe a situation where you had to mentor a junior engineer.
  • How do you handle production issues under pressure?
  • Design a system to handle real-time analytics for a website.
  • What are the trade-offs between monolithic and microservices architectures?
  • Tell me about a bug you introduced and how you fixed it.

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

Paris

Interview focus

Emphasis on practical problem-solving and debugging skills.Assessment of collaboration and communication within a team.Understanding of distributed systems and scalability principles.

Common questions

  • Describe a challenging technical problem you solved at your previous company.
  • How do you approach debugging a complex issue?
  • Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult team member.
  • What are your thoughts on microservices architecture?
  • How do you ensure the scalability of your code?

Tips

  • Be prepared to discuss specific examples from your past projects.
  • Clearly articulate your thought process when solving problems.
  • Showcase your ability to work effectively in a team environment.
  • Research Criteo's tech stack and recent projects.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Criteo.

Frequently reported on Criteo loops

View all at Criteo

Other guides

More at Criteo.