Rounds (90 minutes total)
- SQL live-coding (30 min) — dedup + sessionization on a shared sandbox. Thinking aloud required; silent typing is scored down.
- Pipeline system design (30 min) — whiteboard one batch pipeline with volumes, schedule, failure modes. Interviewer injects one failure mid-round.
- Capstone defense slice (20 min) — two questions from the defense bank against the student's own repo.
- 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.