The ultimate guide to engineering manager interviews. Developed by FAANG engineers, prep faster with proven strategies, real-world questions, and a structured approach. Get interview-ready in hours.

Engineers working as individual contributors may want to switch to management roles in the middle of their careers. A significant part of this transition will involve preparing for the engineering manager (EM) interview. This course is meant for folks preparing for an EM interview, enabling them to systematically cover the often-asked questions and strategies to come up with good answers.
The course begins with education about the EM role and the interview process for this role. It then covers the patterns and strategies to answer typical management questions in a story-like fashion. These involve people management, project and cross-functional management, and behavioral questions.
The course has been prepared by experienced engineering managers and directors for top-tier tech companies with years of experience giving and taking interviews for this role. This course will help you to persuasively present your own management experience during the interview and get your dream offer.

Acing the Engineering Manager Interview

In this type of interview, you're expected to dive into one of your past projects and explain its technical aspects and design in detail. Remember that the interviewer is mainly looking at your capability to confidently hold a tech discussion and discuss things like trade-offs. The interviewer also looks at how well you communicate when presenting difficult concepts. Practice ahead of time by drawing design and architecture diagrams and walking through the design of a past project. Think of it more like an informal system design review presentation or discussion. 

> **Note:** Make sure to check with the recruiter which tools (a physical whiteboard, Google Jamboard) will be available to you during the interview and practice with the same tools beforehand. It’s a good idea to practice a mock interview with a friend or to record yourself since you can choose the project beforehand and are given the opportunity to prepare.



Let’s explore the tech deep-dive interview and the best ways to prepare for it.

Introduction

The EM Interview Loop

Management Interview Patterns and Strategies

People Management Questions

Project and Cross-functional Management

Behavioral Questions

EM Loop: The Tech Deep-dive Interview