Data Engineer · Phone Screen · Multiple Types

[ OK ] 534bc4d8-9919-481e-b83c-11a5780d861f — full writeup

[ INFO ] category: Behavioral · Multiple Types difficulty: 6 freq: first seen: 2026-03-26

[6][MULTIPLE TYPES]SQLAlgorithmsData StructuresGraphs

$ cat problem.md

Meta — Data Engineer ✅ Passed

Level: Junior-Level

Round: Phone Screen · Type: Multiple Types · Difficulty: 6/10 · Duration: 60 min · Interviewer: Friendly

Topics: SQL, Algorithms, Data Structures, Graphs

Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Interview date: 2018-08-15

Summary

This was a one-hour phone screen split into two parts: SQL and algorithm questions.

Details

I had a phone screen for a Data Engineer position. The interviewer was a male engineer. I felt like I didn't do well, but I still passed.

The first part focused on SQL. I was given several tables and had to write queries. I didn't get the exact questions, as they involved table schemas, but I was told to practice LeetCode database questions, especially the easy and medium ones. The interviewer emphasized finding the most optimal solution. Solving one question leads to the next, so getting stuck on one would likely lead to failure.

The second part was algorithm questions, with each question being more difficult than the last:

Find the average length of strings in a List<String> words. (Easy)
Determine if an IP address is valid. (Not too difficult)
A graph problem that I think required DFS, but I ran out of time.

user@intervues:~/experiences/meta$