Scale Engineer

Software Engineer

Software EngineerIC5Medium to Hard

The Yelp Software Engineer IC5 interview process is designed to assess a candidate's technical proficiency, problem-solving abilities, system design skills, and cultural fit within the company. It typically involves multiple rounds, including technical interviews, a system design interview, and a behavioral interview, with a focus on practical application and real-world problem-solving.

Rounds·3

Timeline·~14d

Experience·5 - 10 yrs

Comp band·US$140000 - US$180000

Interview time·150 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Problem-solving approach and analytical skills
  • Data structures and algorithms knowledge
  • System design and architectural thinking
  • Coding proficiency and best practices
  • Communication and collaboration skills
  • Cultural fit and alignment with Yelp's values

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Review fundamental data structures and algorithms (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash maps, sorting, searching).
  2. Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or Coderbyte, focusing on medium to hard difficulty.
  3. Study system design principles, including scalability, availability, reliability, and common design patterns (e.g., load balancing, caching, databases, message queues).
  4. Understand common distributed systems concepts (e.g., CAP theorem, consensus algorithms, microservices).
  5. Prepare for behavioral questions by reflecting on past experiences using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  6. Research Yelp's products, services, and recent news to understand their business and technical challenges.
  7. Familiarize yourself with the technologies commonly used at Yelp (e.g., Python, Java, Go, React, AWS, Kubernetes).

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 arrays, lists, trees, hash maps, sorting, searching.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures and algorithms. Cover arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees (binary trees, BSTs, heaps), hash tables, and basic graph traversal. Practice problems related to searching, sorting, and recursion. Aim for 2-3 hours of study and practice per day.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Design a system to handle real-time analytics for a website.
  • Implement a function to find the k-th largest element in an unsorted array.
  • How would you design a rate limiter for an API?
  • Describe a situation where you had to deal with a difficult stakeholder. How did you handle it?
  • What are the trade-offs between using a monolithic architecture versus a microservices architecture?
  • Write a function to reverse a linked list.
  • How do you ensure the scalability and reliability of a distributed system?
  • Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it?
  • Design a system for a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft.
  • Given a binary tree, determine if it is a valid binary search tree.

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

San Francisco

Interview focus

Emphasis on distributed systems and scalability relevant to Yelp's core services.Understanding of local market nuances and how they might impact product features or user experience.Familiarity with technologies commonly used in the specific office's tech stack.

Common questions

  • How would you design a URL shortener service?
  • Discuss a challenging technical problem you solved recently.
  • Explain the trade-offs between different database choices for a specific use case.
  • How do you handle concurrency in a distributed system?
  • Describe your experience with A/B testing and its implementation.

Tips

  • Research Yelp's presence and impact in the specific city/region.
  • Be prepared to discuss how your skills can contribute to local user growth and engagement.
  • Understand the competitive landscape for review and discovery platforms in that area.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Yelp.

Frequently reported on Yelp loops

View all at Yelp

Other guides

More at Yelp.