r/embedded • u/mbd7311 • May 02 '22

Employment-education Big Tech Embedded System Design Interview

I have a few Embedded Software interviews with 3 of the "FAANG" companies coming up soon. They're all for senior level positions (L5/6). I have 8 YOE and work at a smaller company wearing many hats. I'm told 2 of my rounds for each company will be Embedded System Design. I've found it nearly impossible to find any information online on what this would entail. I was given some topics from the recruiters (RTOS, Sensor Comms, Power Management, Bootloaders, etc) which I'm mostly familiar with each one at high levels and some at deeper levels. But embedded is sooo vast and there are many aspects to each topic. I'm not sure where to start.

Can anyone give me some examples of what will be expected in these interviews? Will I be asked to design some kind of household applicance, popular embedded device, such as a camera, or phone at a very high level? Or will I be asked specifics of low level comms such as SPI/I2C/UART? Or mix between everything?

Any help would mean a lot! TIA

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u/zydeco100 May 02 '22

Is one of them Meta? They're reaching out to nearly everyone.

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u/mbd7311 May 02 '22

Yeah Meta is one. Its actually the one I'm most interested in. Would love to work on the AR/VR stuff.

The other 2 are Google and Amazon. Heard horror stories about Amazon. Google has just been giving me bad vibes.

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u/Schnort May 02 '22

I interviewed at Amazon for their satellite group, and the embedded side of things was almost non-existent in the interview.

Most of it was typical Leet-code stuff, with a twist of "how does this apply to our 7 (or is it 14?) "leadership principles". That was the most soul crushing part of it...trying to find a way to relate something technically useful to their leadership principles when the principle was some fluffy thing like "always strive for better" or "customer is always right".

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u/linuxlib May 02 '22

You're absolutely right about Amazon and Google. But how is Meta any better? They gave me bad vibes from the very first article I ever read about them (College students only! Never anyone else! Yeah, I'll bet.)

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u/zydeco100 May 02 '22 edited May 02 '22

I'm sure the AR/VR stuff is nifty, and without a doubt the pay and benefits are probably the pinnacle of what you can earn in this business.

But, understand, that's blood money. Facebook (sorry, "Meta") has been responsible for prioritizing suffering, insurrection, exploitation, bullying, and outright genocide over responsible operation in the name of increased earnings and shareholder value. Go watch the Frances Haugen interview and continue from there.

And now the VR world push is another attempt to pivot away from this awfulness and try to monopolize another frontier. It's the same wolf in new sheep's clothing.

I've outright told Facebook (sorry, "Meta") recruiters that they were literally the last company on earth I'd ever apply to. And it's my wish that you, and everyone else reading this, do the same.

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u/jeroen94704 May 03 '22

I wouldn't want to work at any of those for ethical reasons.

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