Thinking Process - SDE Interview at Big Tech

Here is template for thinking process in SDE Interview at big tech.

1. System Design

  • Find the bottlenecks downtime of each node in design.
  • Dive deep into each components: API Design, Database.
  • Analyze pros, cons and trade-offs in 2 approaches ⇒ Make decisions based on requirements.

2. Coding Interview

  • Understand the problem.
  • Understand the constraints and worst cases.
  • Give examples
  • Go with brute force solution, find and optimal to 2 - 3 solutions.
  • Run with testcases

3. Computer Science

  • What is it ?
  • Details
  • When to use it in practice ?

4. Lead with questions

  • Because everyone want to SELF-MAKE DECISION BY THEMSELVES.
November 13, 2025