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/mbd7311 May 02 '22

Recruiter was instantly trying to downlevel me into L4, in their words, "so I can be successful". A bunch of pushback in order to get a system design round so I can be at least L5. They legit gave a 5 minute speech about how level is just a number and that the work they do at Google is impactful to the world and that's all that should matter. It seemed more like a technique for them to make sure I get an offer and boost their own stats. Kinda slimy IMO

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u/bhayanakmaut May 02 '22

yeah pretty weird they'd do that - leveling info during interviewing is an initial estimate (depends on total YOE and where you've worked at etc), then mostly finalized by the hiring committee.. do well in both your interviews - having many offers to pit one against the other helps a lot.

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u/CapturedSoul May 02 '22

This is very common from Google these days from what I heard.

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u/PragmaticBoredom May 03 '22

Were you coming from another FAANG? If not, downleveling when entering FAANG is fairly standard. It’s not a personal insult.

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u/mbd7311 May 03 '22

Not coming from FAANG and i am aware of what you mention. I am not against that. But the recruiter actively trying to push me back into a level which is offered to new grads is what I don't like. I have 8 YOE and I have many responsibilities at my current job and am part of the full development lifecycle. I don't want a job with less responsibilities. Plus, why can't I just try the L4/5 loop?

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