The System Design Interview Prep Handbook

Your System Design Interview performance determines your starting role & salary at top companies. Stand out with this free guide from a FAANG hiring manager.

Beginner

13 Lessons

Certificate of Completion

Your System Design Interview performance determines your starting role & salary at top companies. Stand out with this free guide from a FAANG hiring manager.

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Mock Interview

Explanations

Prompt

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Mock Interview

Course Overview

Only 1 in 5 candidates pass the entire technical interview process at tech companies—their most common pitfall is the System Design Interview. When it comes to System Design Interview preparation, it's not enough to practice System Design Interview questions. This is because, unlike other technical interviews, there are many possible solutions to a given System Design problem. Rather, to excel in these interviews, you must be able to demonstrate the soft skills and thought processes that interviewers are lo...Show More

TAKEAWAY SKILLS

System Design

Prepare For Interview

What You'll Learn

Simulate the real-world design process in the interview.

Tackle any System Design problem with an 8-step method.

Discuss the appropriate talking points for your desired role.

Demonstrate collaboration skills, adaptability, and a growth mindset.

Complete your high-level design under a time crunch.

Evaluate trade-offs between common System Design attributes.

Recognize commonly used components in any System Design (e.g., cache, load balancer, etc.).

Understand the importance of mastering System Design Interviews at tech companies.

What You'll Learn

Simulate the real-world design process in the interview.

Course Content

Introduction to the System Design Interview Handbook

This chapter teaches system design interview basics, focusing on communication skills, best practices, and strategies for effectively tackling design challenges

About This Course

What to Expect

System Design 101

This chapter focuses on understanding what system design is and how to prepare for system design interviews with essential concepts and techniques.

What Is System Design?

The System Design Interview

Sending Hireable Signals

This chapter teaches navigating trade-offs, effective communication and time management, and demonstrating your experience-level during system design interview.

Navigating Trade-Offs

Communicating for Impact

Showing Your Vantage Point

Managing Your Time

Getting to the Finish Line

This chapter teaches common strategies (SLIC FAST) and using the RESHADED framework to tackle unseen design problems efficiently in interviews.

A Starting Point: The Common 8 (SLIC FAST)

Getting to the Finish Line with RESHADED

How to Tackle a Problem You’ve Never Seen Before

Mastering the System Design Interview

This chapter is about revising your key takeaways from this system design interview handbook and the next steps towards system design mastery.

Key Takeaways

Mastering the System Design Interview

Course Author

Trusted by 1.4 million developers working at companies

Anthony Walker

@_webarchitect_

Evan Dunbar

ML Engineer

Carlos Matias La Borde

Software Developer

Souvik Kundu

Front-end Developer

Vinay Krishnaiah

Software Developer

Eric Downs

Musician/Entrepeneur

Kenan Eyvazov

DevOps Engineer

Souvik Kundu

Front-end Developer

Eric Downs

Musician/Entrepeneur

Anthony Walker

@_webarchitect_

Evan Dunbar

ML Engineer

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Frequently Asked Questions

How can I improve my System Design interview?

To excel in System Design interviews, practice common scenarios like URL shorteners, social media, or e-commerce. Break down systems into components like databases, caching, and APIs, and analyze their interactions, data flow, and scalability. Understand concepts like load balancing, replication, sharding, and partitioning. Practice communicating trade-offs and your design choices effectively. Mock interviews can also help refine your approach.