Top 40
Prep plan
Updated weekly · Last refresh Aug 30

ByteDance Data Engineer Interview Questions

The questions to prepare for a ByteDance Data Engineer interview. Questions from real interview reports rank first. Updated weekly.

40questions
~6htotal time
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1
SQL & Data ManipulationStart here. 11 questions + 2 drills · ~121 min
Second Highest Without AggregatesHard
Practice

Find the second highest salary in each department without using aggregate functions.

SubqueriesRankingSelf-JoinsByteDance
OLTP vs OLAP Database DesignMedium

Explain OLTP vs OLAP designs, including schema shape, workload patterns, and when each is appropriate in a data platform.

financial dataperformanceData ModelingByteDance
Data Normalization ImportanceEasy

Tests understanding of schema design principles that impact data quality and maintainability.

JoinsData WranglingByteDance
SQL Top Spenders by MonthEasy
Practice
Practice drill

Rank TikTok Shop users by monthly spend using joins, aggregation, date truncation, and ROW_NUMBER().

Window FunctionsRankingAggregationsByteDancePulsePoint
7-Day Rolling Active UsersMedium
Practice
Practice drill

Compute daily active users and a 7-day rolling average using a CTE, distinct counts, and window functions.

Window FunctionsDate FunctionsRunning TotalsMetaSpotifyMeta IT
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2
Coding6 questions · ~55 min
Palindrome Check FunctionEasy
Practice

Determine if a string reads the same forward and backward using a two-pointer scan.

StringsTwo PointersByteDance
Merge Two Sorted Linked ListsEasy
Practice

Merge two sorted singly linked lists into one sorted list by relinking existing nodes.

RecursionLinked ListsSortingByteDance
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3
Pipelines11 questions · ~101 min
Data Quality in ETL PipelinesEasy

Approach for maintaining data quality and integrity across ETL pipelines.

IdempotencyData ModelingQualityByteDance
Explain ETL in Data EngineeringEasy

Explain the ETL process, why it matters, and how it fits into a practical data pipeline.

ETLOrchestrationQualityByteDance
Optimize Slow Spark ETL PipelineHard

Redesign a slow Databricks Spark ETL pipeline to cut runtime from 3 hours to under 60 minutes without breaking data quality or SLAs.

ByteDance
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4
Behavioral & Leadership12 questions · ~110 min
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The finish line: interview-readyComplete all 40 questions plus 2 hands-on drills to finish this plan.