W12 — DE Mock-Interview Format

# DE Mock-Interview Format ## Rounds (90 minutes total) 1. **SQL live-coding (30 min)** — dedup + sessionization on a shared sandbox. Thinking aloud required; silent typing is scored down. 2. **Pipeline system design (30 min)** — whiteboard one batch pipeline with volumes, schedule, failure modes. Interviewer injects one failure mid-round. 3. **Capstone defense slice (20 min)** — two questions from the defense bank against the student's own repo. 4. **Feedback + plan (10 min)** — scores read out, one fix committed to before the next mock. ## Rules - No AI assistance during rounds; notes allowed in round 2 only. - A no-show without 12h notice forfeits the slot. - Two consecutive hire-level scores clear the interview gate.