The Software Engineer L7 interview at SmartNews is a comprehensive process designed to assess a candidate's technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, system design skills, and cultural fit. It typically involves multiple rounds, including technical screenings, coding challenges, system design discussions, and behavioral interviews.
Rounds·4
Timeline·~14d
Experience·7 - 10 yrs
Comp band·US$140000 - US$180000
Interview time·210 min
Evaluation
Preparation
Tips
Study plan
Fig · Study plan — 04 phases
01 / 04Phase 01 of 04
Weeks 1-2: Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA) fundamentals. Practice LeetCode medium/hard.
Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash tables) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, graph traversal). Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, focusing on medium to hard difficulty. Understand time and space complexity analysis.
Phase 02 of 04
Weeks 3-4: System Design principles. Study scalability, databases, caching. Practice case studies.
Weeks 3-4: Dive into system design concepts. Study topics like scalability, load balancing, caching, databases (SQL vs. NoSQL), message queues, and microservices architecture. Work through common system design case studies and practice designing systems like Twitter feed, URL shortener, etc.
Phase 03 of 04
Week 5: Behavioral preparation. Use STAR method. Research company culture.
Week 5: Prepare for behavioral questions. Reflect on your past experiences and identify examples that demonstrate leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, and handling challenges. Use the STAR method to structure your answers. Research SmartNews's company culture and values.
Phase 04 of 04
Week 6: Technology-specific review. Practice coding. Focus on SmartNews's stack.
Week 6: Review specific technologies relevant to SmartNews (e.g., Go, Python, AWS services, Kubernetes). Brush up on your chosen programming language's advanced features and common libraries. Practice coding challenges that mimic real-world scenarios.
Questions
Locations
Fig · Regions — 02 locations
01 / 02Location
Interview focus
Common questions
Tips
Location
Interview focus
Common questions
Tips
Rounds
Expand a step for evaluation criteria, sample questions, and prep notes.
Technical Interview (Coding) · 60 min · Software Engineer / Senior Software Engineer
This round focuses on assessing your core programming skills. You will be asked to solve one or two coding problems, typically involving data structures and algorithms. The interviewer will evaluate your ability to understand the problem, devise an efficient solution, write clean and maintainable code, and explain your thought process. Expect questions that test your knowledge of arrays, strings, trees, graphs, dynamic programming, and sorting/searching algorithms.
What they look for
Evaluation
Sample questions
Given a binary tree, find the lowest common ancestor of two given nodes in the tree.
Implement a function to find the k-th largest element in an unsorted array.
Given a string s and a dictionary of strings wordDict, return true if s can be segmented into a space-separated sequence of one or more dictionary words.
Prep for this round
Common rejection reasons
System Design Interview · 60 min · Senior Software Engineer / Engineering Manager
This round evaluates your ability to design and architect complex software systems. You will be presented with a high-level problem (e.g., design a URL shortener, a social media feed, a notification system) and asked to propose a solution. The interviewer will probe into various aspects such as scalability, reliability, data storage, APIs, caching, and potential bottlenecks. Be prepared to discuss trade-offs between different design choices.
What they look for
Evaluation
Sample questions
Design a distributed caching system.
Design a news feed system similar to Facebook or Twitter.
How would you design a rate limiter for an API?
Prep for this round
Common rejection reasons
Behavioral Interview · 45 min · Hiring Manager / Senior Team Member
This round focuses on your behavioral and cultural fit. You'll be asked questions about your past experiences, how you handle specific situations (e.g., conflict resolution, dealing with failure, leadership), and your motivations for joining SmartNews. Prepare to provide specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to illustrate your skills and experiences.
What they look for
Evaluation
Sample questions
Tell me about a time you faced a significant technical challenge and how you overcame it.
Describe a situation where you had to work with a difficult colleague. How did you handle it?
Why are you interested in working at SmartNews?
Prep for this round
Common rejection reasons
Managerial / Leadership Interview · 45 min · Engineering Manager / Director of Engineering
This final round, often with the hiring manager or a senior leader, focuses on your overall fit for the role and the team. It may involve a mix of technical, behavioral, and strategic questions. They will assess your leadership potential, your ability to contribute to the team's success, and how well your career aspirations align with opportunities at SmartNews. Be prepared to discuss your career goals and how you envision contributing to the company's growth.
What they look for
Evaluation
Sample questions
How would you prioritize features for a new product launch?
Describe your experience mentoring junior engineers.
What are your long-term career goals, and how does this role fit into them?
Prep for this round
Common rejection reasons
DSA
Frequently reported on smartnews loops
Other guides
