Senior Data Engineer Interview Experience - United States
Process
The process started with an online HackerRank test, consisting of four SQL questions and one programming question to be completed within an hour. A perfect score of 100% was required to advance to the onsite interview.
The onsite interview comprised five rounds:
- Behavioral
- Programming
- System Design
- Data Modeling (which was effectively a SQL round)
- Pure SQL
Questions
Given a list of attributes and a graph of relationships, compute the total list of properties for each node in the graph.
The data modeling round involved designing the schema for two tables: one to represent individual bookings and one to represent the properties being booked. Then, queries were written off of them.
Behavioral round featured classic questions about past projects, difficult times, etc.
The systems design question was unusual. The interviewer essentially specified a full system involving a SQL dump into Hive with daily partitions. They provided two tables and the query they wanted to run as an ETL.
The SQL round was a miscellaneous gauntlet of joins, with another five questions in an hour.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Airbnb Senior Data Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
Airbnb's interview process for their Senior Data Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Airbnb's Senior Data Engineer interview process in United States.
Airbnb Work Experiences
- 4.0Really good for working with experienced peopleSenior Data Engineer • Former EmployeeOntario, California, United StatesAugust 22, 2023Pros: High salary, the team is mature, and the problems and challenges are on another level.Cons: No autonomy, no PTO, temporary role.
- 5.0Good pay and work-life balanceSenior Data Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Francisco, California, United StatesJune 14, 2023Pros: Good pay and work-life balance.Cons: Nothing to be called out
- 5.0Great place to workSoftware QA Tester • Current EmployeeCalifornia City, California, United StatesNovember 13, 2025Pros: Great place to work, friendly atmosphere.Cons: A lot of work, overtimes.
Airbnb Interview Questions
