Top 45
Prep plan
Updated weekly · Last refresh Oct 17

OpenAI Data Engineer Interview Questions

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

45questions
~6htotal time
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1
System DesignStart here. 5 questions · ~42 min
Restaurant Data Update SystemHard

Design a scalable Dianping-style restaurant data update system that ignores user feedback and prioritizes freshness, correctness, and low-latency serving.

OpenAI
Canonical Data Modeling LayerHard

Evaluates your data modeling skills for integrating billing and usage data into a unified model.

system designdata architectureData ModelingOpenAI
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2
Pipelines24 questions · ~203 min
Spark vs Flink Trade-offsMedium

Tests ability to choose the right streaming engine based on latency, state, and semantics.

InfrastructureStream ProcessingPerformance TuningOpenAI
Near-Real-Time Warehouse for ChatGPT FeedbackHard

Tests end-to-end architecture skills for low-latency ingestion, modeling, and reporting.

InfrastructureETLData ModelingOpenAI
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3
Coding3 questions · ~25 min
Parse Nested JSON for MetricsMedium

Tests coding ability to handle nested JSON parsing and metric extraction correctly.

ArraysData WranglingStringsOpenAI
Sessionization Over Event StreamsMedium

Tests streaming logic and efficient sessionization based on event timestamps.

Hash TablesDynamic ProgrammingArraysOpenAI
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4
Behavioral & Leadership11 questions · ~93 min
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5
More topics2 questions · ~17 min
Using Window Functions in SQLMedium

Tests understanding of window functions and when to use them for analytics queries.

Window FunctionsAggregationsOpenAI
SQL Performance Tuning ApproachMedium

Tests ability to diagnose and improve SQL query performance using practical techniques.

Performance TuningAggregationsOpenAI
Hands-on SQL practiceWrite and run real queries in the editor. 3 drills · ~30 min
The finish line: interview-readyComplete all 45 questions plus 3 hands-on drills to finish this plan.