Technical Bar

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This lesson breaks down how technical competence is evaluated during engineering manager (EM) interviews. Although only 20% of the hiring criteria is based on technical skills, understanding how it's assessed is essential for preparation.

• High-level technical evaluation: EM interviews typically assess architecture and system-level thinking rather than deep implementation. The goal is to understand if you grasp the impact and trade-offs of technical decisions.
• System design is critical: Nearly all companies include a system design round, as it's a strong signal of your ability to reason about architecture, scalability, and trade-offs at a strategic level.
• Operational excellence is a focus: Interviewers may evaluate how you ensure continuous product integrity through CI/CD pipelines, quality control, monitoring systems, and delivery processes.
• Metrics and impact measurement: Expect questions around KPIs and OKRs, especially on how you track team or product success. This reflects your business awareness and leadership maturity.
• Coding expectations vary by company: FAANG companies often include coding rounds to assess whether you can "get your hands dirty" if needed. Non-FAANG companies may skip this or offer take-home assignments or lightweight coding exercises instead.