Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Summary. The position of the system design engineer is highly technical and requires a lot of experience. That means that all candidates for this position will be highly qualified, experienced, and, most likely, highly familiar with the interview process.
Key Takeaways:
Interviewees should make an effort to review their areas of expertise in case they’re asked specific questions. They should also do a refresher on what will be required for the positions they’re being interviewed for, such as e-commerce, for instance.
It’s important to cover system design engineer behavioral questions, expertise questions, and situational questions. This is the only way that the interviewer can get a full picture of the candidate before deciding to hire them.
Make sure to brush up on both basic and advanced knowledge of system design in case the interviewer asks highly specific questions.
Review both the job description and your resume so that you can directly address questions related to the job description or what’s on your resume.
If you’ve worked on other systems before, create a portfolio – if the information isn’t proprietary.
Make sure that you or someone else is in the room with you that’s highly familiar with system design and software engineering so that you can determine the candidate’s expertise. It’s best to brush up on some more specific parts of it as needed.
Prepare a series of questions that you want the candidate to answer. It’s not a bad idea to have more than you need, just as long as you're willing to omit some if you feel pressed for time.
The best questions to ask in a system design engineer interview are ones that aren’t common. That will require the candidate to react rather than give scripted answers.
There are many different interview questions for a system design engineer. Here are some commonly asked questions, along with some example answers, to show what both interviewers and interviewees should expect.
Tell me about yourself
This is a common interview question to assess personality and cultural fit. It can be tied to how interested the candidate is in the profession and how long they’re likely to stay at any one job. As a candidate, it’s best to emphasize your passion for the field as well as your deep interest in it.
Example Answer:
I’ve been interested in programming since I was a kid. I’ve been tinkering with different programming languages and coding for most of my life, and I’m still fascinated by how systems work together. I’ve been working in software engineering for fifteen years now, meaning that I have a lot of experience in the field.
Outside of work, I like gardening, baking, and spoiling my cat. I also like looking after my younger coworkers, particularly those like me, who some people think “don’t look like an engineer.”
How do you maintain motivation in your work?
It’s unavoidable to have days when work seems exhausting. Employers want to know that the candidate is able to keep themselves motivated and involved in their career, even when they don’t feel like it. Generally, hiring managers will want a skill or point of view that meshes well with the nature of the job in question.
Example Answer:
I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so it isn’t difficult to keep up my motivation. There’s always something that can be improved. Keeping the system up to date is a large part of that, as well. But what motivates me is keeping the system the best it can be and making sure that everyone can make use of it, even if they aren’t technical experts.
Why should we hire you?
This gives the candidate a chance to point out all their good qualities. Interviewers want to make sure that the person they’re interviewing is really interested in the position, read the job description and are able to articulate a good response, but not one that sounds like someone else wrote it for them.
Example Answer:
I’ve been working in software engineering for fifteen years, which means I bring a lot of experience to the table. I know how to collaborate and work with other experts and departments in order to make sure that the system works for everyone. I do my best to listen to other's ideas and input so that I'm not just making a system for myself.
Mentoring other younger employees is also important to me. I like to try to lift up those who, like myself, have a history of being excluded from technical positions. I think that the more diverse the team, the better the end design and product, and I want to design the best system that I can.
Why do you want to work here?
Interviews like to test the candidate to see if they have a thorough understanding of the job description, as well as some familiarity with the organization. Answers that relate both to the position and the organization are going to be the best way to impress an interviewer.
Example Answer:
I’ve spent my career working at large technology companies, and while it was rewarding and I learned a tremendous amount, I’d like a chance to be the primary system designer. Working in a smaller company will give me the flexibility and allow me to tailor the system more to the individual as well as individual departments’ needs.
What programming languages are you familiar with?
Expertise questions are paramount for a highly technical position like a system design engineer. Working with systems means that the candidate needs to be familiar with programming languages, computers, and software engineering in order to be successful. It’s also important that they know the primary language used in an existing system.
Example Answer:
I’ve been interested in programming for a long time, so I’m proficient in several languages. My two best are Python and C++, but of course, I also know Java and JavaScript. And while I haven’t used it in a while, I worked on a program written in Visual Basics some years back.
How would you incorporate microservices into an e-commerce platform?
Microservices are a way to bring independent modules together to form a collaborative system. This is something that some companies prefer, rather than using a large monolithic system, so an interviewer may ask this to make sure that the candidate is familiar with the practice and if they employ it.
Example Answer:
Microservices are an excellent way to customize e-commerce platforms. I’ve employed them often in my previous job, as different parts of the company had different things that they prioritized. It allowed me to make the system customizable so that users could pick what worked best for them.
How do you design a shared drive?
As a rule, when asking this question, it’s best to give some more specifics, as this is a question with several different possible answers. If the interviewer doesn’t specify more of what they’re looking for, it’s recommended for the interviewee to ask for some clarification.
Example Answer:
As shared drives work in real-time, it’s important to make sure that the system is as bulletproof as possible. Users are always going to do things that the designer didn’t expect. The common approaches to this problem are ownership, event passing, or three-way merges. I select the one that’s best suited, depending on the situation.
Have you had a disagreement with a manager in the past? How do you approach it?
Behavioral questions are a way to try to determine how an employee will act once they’re hired. Conflicts are bound to happen at work since coworkers spend so much time together. This question is a way to determine how adroit the candidate is at conflict resolution.
Example Answer:
Thankfully, that has only really happened once to me. I had a manager who didn’t have a technical background, but he believed that he needed to act like he understood everything that I was doing. I did my best to be accommodating and explain what I could to him, but system design can get in the weeds pretty quickly, and he’d get frustrated.
I ended up requesting mediation. I didn’t feel like it was a situation that I could handle on my own. Luckily, the mediator was wonderful, and my manager and I managed to come to an accord of largely leaving one another to our devices. I ended up getting transferred a year later, which I think was better for everyone.
Why do you think you’re most suited for the role?
Not everything can fit in the candidate’s resume or cover letter. This grants them the opportunity to include other skills or qualifications that weren't ideal to put in the resume. It’s also a chance for the candidate to pitch themselves and their qualifications.
Example Answer:
I’ve been working in software engineering for more than ten years, and I've been in system design for almost five. That means that I bring a lot of experience to the equation, as well as the fact that I worked on several different types of systems in my career.
I see that diversity is also a major aspect of your company culture. I’ve always made an effort to try to mentor those who aren’t traditionally represented in technical positions to encourage them to stay at it. I’m pleased by the fact that my efforts will be well received at this organization.
What resources do you use to stay up to date on new system design skills?
As technology positions require candidates to stay up to date with the latest advancements and popular techniques, it’s important to find out how they plan to do that. For interviewees, this question shouldn’t be difficult to answer.
Example Answer:
I’ve been interested in software and system design for a long time, so keeping up with new advancements is fun for me. I subscribe to a few publications, like Wired and the MIT Technology Review. I also make an effort to keep up with forums and discussion boards on the subject, as well as attend conferences when I have the opportunity.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Self-awareness is something that many interviewers look for. Of course, a candidate that does well in interviews will do their best to make their weakness sound like a strength instead.
Example Answer:
I like to think that my strength is that I take the time and make an effort to get others' input and make sure that the system I design is something that can work for the organization at large. I always do my utmost to listen to problems that people who use the system have and what they’re looking for instead.
As for my weaknesses, my tendency towards perfectionism can get in my way. I’ll end up fixated on one aspect, trying to make it perfect, when it might be better to be working on something else. I’m working on letting go of that, but it’s a process.
What do you do when you get something wrong?
How an employee will behave at work is something that is difficult to determine by a resume or even during an interview. Everyone makes mistakes on occasion. How they react to it can show you a lot about their personality and how well they can work with others.
Example Answer:
I try to fix it before anyone can find out. But, honestly, when I mess something up, I do my best to correct it, then I make sure that everyone knows that it was me who made the error so that someone else doesn't get blamed for my mistake.
If it’s something where I made a serious mistake, I always do my best to apologize to whoever was affected by it. And, of course, I do my utmost to learn from the experience. It’s embarrassing, so it’s tempting to try to sweep it under the rug – especially for a perfectionist like myself. But I try to turn it into an opportunity whenever I can.
What do you think are the qualities that a system design engineer needs to be successful?
In this case, the interviewer is asking the candidate how they see the position. What are the skills and traits that allowed them to be successful as a system design engineer?
Example Answer:
There are several things that have allowed me to be successful at my job. Being genuinely interested in technology and software has served me very well, as I’ve been able to stay up to date with the latest technology with relative ease.
Being a good listener has also been a major boon to me. I don’t design a system just for me – it’s supposed to be to make the users' lives easier. So I do my best to focus on that and listen to suggestions and complaints. I find being a good listener tends to make you good at communication, too, so I've always been good at being clear.
What do you think a system design engineer’s role in the team is?
Hiring managers want to see how a potential new hire would fit into the existing team. Of course, there’s no way to know for sure until the person starts working, but asking questions about how they see themselves as part of the team is a good way to get an inkling of how they might interact with their coworkers.
Example Answer:
I think that, in some ways, a system design engineer should be at the center of the team. Not only does it require a lot of collaboration with others, such as IT, software engineers, and management, but you need to be able to alter the system as needed to make it work for other non-technical members of the team as well.
Of course, I can't go and talk to everyone and still get my job done. But making myself available to the heads of departments and opening up avenues for suggestions makes me a much better system designer, in my opinion.
If you could choose, would you rather work independently or as part of a team?
There are many jobs where the nature of the work determines whether or not the candidate will be working independently or as part of a team. Most jobs involve teamwork, even in cases where it isn't constant or particularly involved.
However, if the position necessitates constant teamwork, and the candidate says they prefer to work alone as much as possible, it may be an issue.
Example Answer:
I’ve found that working as a team is, in general, much more rewarding. I’ve gotten many different helpful suggestions from others of different backgrounds and experiences that I wouldn't have come up with on my own.
That being said, I can work just fine on my own. A fair amount of the work I do as a system design engineer involves working by myself and drawing up my own designs. I am able to concentrate much better when I’m left alone, too, I admit.
Who do you collaborate with when deploying new systems?
Building a system is inherently a team project and requires input from other members of the organization in order for it to be successful. So an interviewer may ask questions about how you work through that collaboration and how you implement new systems or changes.
Example Answer:
Of course, I work together closely with my team to make sure that the project is going smoothly. But I make sure to confab with executives so that I understand the scope of the project, including very important things such as the budget and requirements.
I do try to pull others in when I can, though. I like to try to talk to some of the people who will be using the system — and not just in upper management. Of course, they’ll make the system work because they don’t have a choice, but I don’t want it to be a burden to them.
How do you communicate complex system operations to someone with little or no technical background?
Many technical positions require interacting with non-technical people. Many managers and executives don’t have a technical background, which necessitates being able to speak to them about technology without getting into the weeds. Finding out how the interviewee handles it can show if they’ll be a good fit for the position.
Example Answer:
One of the trickiest parts I find is figuring out what to include and what to omit. Of course, I can’t explain the whole system to them – I went to school for years and worked in system design for years to understand it myself. But I usually try to start from the ground up, covering the relevant parts in much detail as is reasonable.
I also employ metaphors a lot. I try to tie what I do into something that everyone is familiar with. That can make it easier for the person I'm talking to to relate to what I’m saying and what I’m doing. But I find the most important thing is respect. While they don’t understand this system, that doesn't mean they aren't an expert in their own right.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Looking ahead to the future is another way to learn more about a candidate’s personality. It allows an interviewer to find out if the candidate is ambitious or has no real plans of staying with the organization they’ve applied to or in their particular field.
Example Answer:
Honestly? I’m very happy as a system design engineer. I plan to still be one five years from now. And with a smaller company like this, I expect I’ll have a lot more chances to create the system that I want, so it’ll give me a lot of opportunities I didn’t have at my previous job.
What is load balancing, and why is it important in system design?
Load balancing is one of the fundamental principles of system design, so the interviewer may want to make sure that the candidate grasps the basics and is, therefore, qualified. It’s important for the interviewee to answer a question like this well so that the interviewer knows they’re competent.
Example Answer:
Load balancing is making sure that tasks are allocated across computing nodes so that none of them gets overloaded. It ensures that the system is reliable and functions properly. L4 and L7 are the two main load balancers.
It impacts everything from security to user experience to reliability. If the system is properly loaded and balanced, then that also makes it possible to push updates and to have the ability to accommodate changes in system use.
Can you name some metrics for measuring system performance?
This is another basic system design question to ensure that the candidate knows how system performance is measured. It’s also important for the candidate to understand how these metrics help improve system design and ensure a system that’s both responsive and efficient.
Example Answer:
The primary metrics used are: availability, latency, and throughput. This allows me to know how well the system responds to users in terms of speed. Availability measures how often the system responds to a user by showing a ratio of Uptime versus Downtime.
Latency is the measure of how many milliseconds it takes a message to be delivered. Throughput is how much data successfully travels through the system to a user in a set period of time. It’s usually shown as bits per second.
Here are some more common interview questions for system design engineers.
What’s the most challenging work you’ve ever done as a front-end developer?
What are your hobbies outside of work?
How do you handle situations where you’re assigned more than you can handle?
What inspired you to pursue a career in system design?
What is one accomplishment you’re proud of?
What automation tools do you have experience with?
What’s the aspect you find most rewarding as a system engineer?
What do you consider when creating disaster recovery plans?
When would you suggest creating DNS backups?
When have you implemented automation testing?
How often would you recommend a client update their network system?
Describe your daily routine at work
What’s the biggest challenge you foresee in this role?
How would you design a search engine?
How do you effectively manage your time?