Grokking the Modern System Design Interview

System design is the process of defining the architecture, interfaces, and data for a system that satisfies specific requirements. System design meets the needs of your business or organization through coherent and efficient systems. Once your business or organization determines its requirements, you can begin to build them into a physical system design that addresses the needs of your customers. The way you design your system will depend on whether you want to go for custom development, commercial solutions, or a combination of the two.

FAANG companies conduct System Design Interviews to assess your ability to see the bigger picture and solve complex problems creatively. These interviews evaluate your technical expertise and adaptability in crafting optimal solutions. Your performance in a System Design Interview often serves as an indicator of your seniority and technical leadership potential within the company.

System Design Interviews are tough because of the open-ended nature of the questions. With no single correct solution, your performance depends on the technical skills you demonstrate during the interview. Effective strategies include thorough preparation, practical experience, clear communication, and time management. The difficulty level of System Design Interviews varies across companies. However, the loops at top tech companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and Netflix are notoriously difficult.

System Design Interviews focus primarily on high-level system architecture with minimal to no code. The interviewer focuses on your ability to strategically tackle complex problems and iteratively work toward an acceptable solution. When describing your design, you may expect to write pseudocode or code snippets to explain a specific concept or component.

In a System Design Interview, you’re expected to showcase your ability to design a scalable and maintainable system by strategically applying theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios. You should be able to understand the problem requirements, outline high-level architecture, including major components, make informed decisions, and communicate your design ideas and thought process.

For a System Design Interview, you should start preparing by understanding the concepts of the fundamental System Design and distributed system architecture. Courses like Grokking Modern System Design Interview offer a rundown of all the major topics for the System Design Interview. Once the theoretical part is covered, focus on studying real-world systems, practice designing common systems, and identify different solutions to the same problem along with their trade-offs.

A System Design Interview for engineering managers will assess your technical expertise in designing large-scale systems and leadership abilities. You must demonstrate how to architect scalable and fault-tolerant systems that align with business goals. You must navigate trade-offs, optimize performance, and make informed decisions. Additionally, the interview evaluates your leadership skills in guiding teams, encouraging collaboration, and ensuring successful project delivery, focusing on technical direction and people management skills.

There’s no doubt that a System Design Interview is challenging. It requires a solid understanding of architectural patterns, scalability, and distributed systems. Success in System Design Interviews depends on your technical knowledge, the ability to adapt, and clearly explain design decisions.

Start by mastering all the main principles of modern System Design that are key for System Design Interviews. You should analyze real-world systems and start practicing the solutions to typical questions asked during the System Design Interview. To build knowledge, read through the engineering blogs of tech giants to understand their technical expertise and engineering feats. You can also explore insights from FAANG System Design Interviews discussed in this course. Remember, consistent practice is crucial.

You can tackle a real-world issue, from the overarching goals to a practical design. Ask yourself pertinent questions to ensure a comprehensive grasp of the real-world compromises involved. Then, present a viable solution, show flexibility in adapting to evolving requirements, and explain the rationale behind the chosen approach. You can also practice through System Design mock Interviews.

As a beginner, it will take you 1–2 hours on weekdays for 3–6 months to prepare for a System Design Interview. It should take no more than 1–3 months for intermediate-level learners. For experienced professionals, it should take approximately 1 month due to your existing knowledge and your area of focus. You can take a System Design Mock Interview to test your knowledge.

System Design Interviews typically last 45–60 minutes. Designing an entire system in one hour is not feasible, but it’s enough for the interviewer to assess your knowledge of the topic. In a 45-minute interview, the introduction and problem clarification should take around 10 minutes. You should aim to present high-level and detailed designs in the next 20 minutes. The last 15 minutes can be used for improvement iterations, trade-off discussions, and any questions you may have. Senior-level interviews may last up to two hours as well.