Mastering Engineering Manager Interviews: The 6 Resources I Use to Land My EM Jobs

Are you ready to take the next step in your career as a software engineering manager? Facing an interview for this role can feel intimidating, but there's a method to mastering it. Understanding how to navigate both the technical and behavioral aspects of the interview is key to standing out.

To help make the preparation process more straightforward, we’ve compiled ten essential resources along with practical tips to focus on key areas! With the right tools and knowledge, we can enter interviews feeling confident and ready to make an impact!

This is an article for paid subscribers, and here is the content:

1. Interview question types

2. 🔒 Six essential resources

3. 🔒 Preparing for the upcoming interviews

4. 🔒 Other tips

What to Expect: Interview Question Types

1. Coding Interview

While not all engineering managers are expected to code regularly, these interviews ensure that we can engage in technical discussions with our team. Typical questions focus on algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving techniques. It’s beneficial to prepare by reviewing coding platforms such as LeetCode to practice writing clear, efficient code. Our goal should be to demonstrate that we are capable of guiding technical decisions and offering meaningful feedback to our teams.

Example Questions:

• Implement a function to find the shortest path in a graph.

• Write a program to sort a list of numbers using merge sort.

• Given a string, find the longest substring without repeating characters.

• Design a stack that supports push, pop, and retrieving the minimum element in constant time.

2. System Design Interview

These interviews focus on how we approach designing complex systems, considering factors like scalability, performance, reliability, and security. We may be asked to design a high-level architecture for a given application or solve a specific problem, such as handling high traffic or ensuring data consistency. Our approach should include breaking down the problem, outlining our design choices, and explaining trade-offs. This type of interview helps showcase our ability to think strategically and translate business requirements into technical solutions.

Example Questions:

• Design a URL shortening service like Bit.ly. Consider data storage, API endpoints, and system scalability.

• Create a high-level architecture for an e-commerce website. How would you handle inventory management, user authentication, and payment processing?

• How would you design a distributed caching system to improve the performance of a read-heavy application?

• Design a notification system that can handle millions of users receiving real-time updates.

3. Technical Interview: Technical Questions & Experience

The technical interview is distinct from the coding or system design segments and is more focused on evaluating our overall technical expertise and experience. This could involve discussing our past projects, our knowledge of various tools and frameworks, and how we’ve applied technology to solve complex challenges. Questions may touch on specific technologies we have worked with, architectural patterns, or our understanding of software development best practices.

Example Questions:

• What are its benefits and drawbacks compared to monolithic systems vs micro-service architectures?

• Describe a challenging technical problem you encountered in a past project and how you resolved it.

• How do you ensure the quality and scalability of the software your team builds?

4. Behavioral Interview & Leadership Interview

Behavioral and leadership interviews are designed to evaluate our management style, problem-solving approach, and ability to lead teams effectively. It's the core part of the interviews for management positions.

For behavioral questions, they often use questions that start with “Tell me about a time when…” and focus on past experiences, including conflict resolution, motivating teams, or managing stakeholders.

For leadership questions, the emphasis is on our ability to build and maintain strong, high-performing teams. It’s helpful to use structured frameworks like the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to answer these questions, ensuring that we clearly outline the context, our approach, and the impact of our actions. Preparing concrete examples that demonstrate our leadership principles and management style will allow us to highlight our strengths and establish our credibility as an engineering leader.

Example Questions:

• Tell us about a time when you had to manage conflict between team members. How did you resolve it?

• Describe a project where you had to balance technical debt against the need for new features. How did you prioritize?

• How do you provide feedback to team members who are underperforming or need improvement?

• Can you share an example of how you influenced a major technical or business decision without having direct authority?

Six Essential Resources