The Software Engineering job market is on fire! Especially if you have a couple of years of experience under your belt. And in the world of Software Engineering, if you are applying for a Senior Engineer / Lead / Architect / or a more senior role, System Design is the most sought-after skill and hence one of the most important rounds in the whole process. If you mess this up, nothing else would matter. If you get it right, though, you’re looking at a raise of at least tens of thousands of dollars annually.
So how do you ace your system design round? Well, here’s what I did while preparing for my interviews with Facebook, Google, and Amazon, and it worked out rather well. I did end up creating a checklist for myself which got me through most of my rounds, so if you follow a similar path, you should be able to come up with something that works for you as well.
Before we get into the details, what is a system design interview? What do the interviewers really expect from the candidates? Expectations: