Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Software EngineerSMedium to Hard

This interview process is for a Software Engineer (Level S) position at Rakuten. It is designed to assess a candidate's technical proficiency, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit within the company.

Rounds·3

Timeline·~14d

Experience·2 - 5 yrs

Comp band·US$80000 - US$120000

Interview time·150 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Problem-solving ability
  • Technical knowledge and depth
  • Coding proficiency
  • System design and architecture skills
  • Communication skills
  • Teamwork and collaboration
  • Cultural fit and alignment with Rakuten's values

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Review fundamental data structures and algorithms.
  2. Practice coding problems, focusing on efficiency and clarity.
  3. Study system design principles and common architectural patterns.
  4. Understand Rakuten's business, products, and values.
  5. Prepare to discuss your past projects and experiences in detail.
  6. Research common behavioral interview questions and prepare STAR method responses.
  7. Familiarize yourself with the technologies commonly used at Rakuten (e.g., Java, Python, Go, AWS, Kubernetes).

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 50+ coding problems.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash maps) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, graph traversal). Practice implementing these from scratch and analyze their time and space complexity. Solve at least 50 LeetCode-style problems.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Describe a time you had to debug a complex issue in a production environment.
  • How would you design a URL shortening service?
  • What are the differences between TCP and UDP?
  • Tell me about a project where you had to make significant technical trade-offs.
  • How do you stay updated with new technologies?
  • Explain the concept of eventual consistency.
  • Write a function to reverse a linked list.
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses as a software engineer?
  • How do you handle disagreements within a team?
  • Describe your experience with automated testing.

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

Singapore

Interview focus

Deep understanding of distributed systems and microservices architecture.Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure).Proficiency in performance tuning and optimization.

Common questions

  • Tell me about a challenging project you worked on in a distributed systems environment.
  • How do you handle concurrency issues in your code?
  • Describe a time you had to optimize a database query for performance.

Tips

  • Be prepared to discuss specific examples of large-scale systems you've worked with.
  • Familiarize yourself with Rakuten's global presence and how that might impact system design.
  • Highlight any experience with international teams or projects.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Rakuten.

Frequently reported on Rakuten loops

View all at Rakuten

Other guides

More at Rakuten.