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Data Engineer Interview Questions

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Data Engineer Interview Questions

Data engineers are IT professionals who are needed in almost every industry. Data engineers monitor data trends to determine best next steps for companies. A critical part of a data engineer job is to process raw data into usable data by creating data pipelines and building data systems.

Top Data Engineer Interview Questions & How To Answer

Question 1

Question #1: Can you describe in detail your level of expertise with programming languages?

How to answer
How to answer: Before the interview, review your resume and/or portfolio and make a list of the programs you are most proficient with. If you find that you are lacking the expertise in a program that the company predominately uses, describe yourself as a highly motivated self-starter who will work tirelessly to learn the program(s).
Question 2

Question #2: Explain data engineering in your own words.

How to answer
How to answer: Highlight your role in relation to the larger organization and other roles like data scientists to clearly define your contribution to the overall system of business. Clarify the difference between a database-centric engineer and a pipeline-centric engineer.
Question 3

Question #3: Can you describe your experience working with Apache Hadoop and cloud data management environments?

How to answer
How to answer: Research the company's software, data cloud products, and use of Apache Hadoop to be prepared for this inquiry. Data Engineers must be fluent in programming languages and data management systems used throughout the industry such as Apache Hadoop.

20,274 data engineer interview questions shared by candidates

Onsite Interview: Cannot give specifics as I had signed NDA, but it is a real-world case study. You have to create Dimensional model and then write queries on whiteboard based on interviewer's requirements. Knowing "Key-Operating Metrics" is highly recommended.
avatar

Data Engineer

Interviewed at Meta

3.5★
Mar 28, 2019

Onsite Interview: Cannot give specifics as I had signed NDA, but it is a real-world case study. You have to create Dimensional model and then write queries on whiteboard based on interviewer's requirements. Knowing "Key-Operating Metrics" is highly recommended.

Balance the string., i.e., How many additional literals needed to evenly balance the string. String is made of a-j and 0-9 where alphabets marks the opening and numbers as closing. For e.g., ab00a. This is unbalanced since it requires pair of b with 1, and additional 0 occurs before “a” ie., missing opening pair and later “a” without its closing number pair.. Result : 3 E.g., bj19 is balanced so result 0.
avatar

Data Engineer

Interviewed at Meta

3.5★
Oct 23, 2021

Balance the string., i.e., How many additional literals needed to evenly balance the string. String is made of a-j and 0-9 where alphabets marks the opening and numbers as closing. For e.g., ab00a. This is unbalanced since it requires pair of b with 1, and additional 0 occurs before “a” ie., missing opening pair and later “a” without its closing number pair.. Result : 3 E.g., bj19 is balanced so result 0.

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Glassdoor has 20,274 interview questions and reports from Data engineer interviews. Prepare for your interview. Get hired. Love your job.