Fivetran | Senior SRE Engineer | 9-Round Process with Troubleshooting

• Location: Novi Sad, Serbia
• Duration: Several weeks
• Experience: Negative
• Application: Not disclosed

Process

HR → Technical conversation with the team lead → Live coding → Troubleshooting → System design → Culture fit → Team lead again → SRE Director → Final HR

This was a long, nine-stage process involving more than ten interviewers. The feedback was reportedly positive throughout, and only two people reached the end.

What Happened in Each Round

1. HR Interview

An HR conversation opened the process. The report did not include the questions or duration.

2. Technical Conversation with the Team Lead

The team lead held a technical discussion. No specific topics or questions were disclosed.

3. Live Coding

The interviewer ran a separate live-coding round. The problem statement, language, time limit, and test cases were not shared.

4. Troubleshooting

Fivetran included a standalone troubleshooting round, separate from live coding and system design. The report did not reveal the scenario, tools, logs, metrics, or follow-up questions.

5. System Design

The interviewer ran a dedicated system-design round. The system, requirements, and constraints were not disclosed.

6. Culture Fit

The process included a culture-fit round, but the exact questions were not shared.

7. Team Lead Follow-Up

A second conversation with the team lead took place later in the process. The purpose and questions were not disclosed.

8. SRE Director

The SRE Director conducted another interview. No additional details were provided.

9. Final HR Conversation

HR returned at the end of the loop. The later steps included professional references and a verbal offer.

Original Question

The only exact technical prompt disclosed was:

Explain the architecture of Kubernetes.

The report did not say which round included this question.

Follow-ups

No follow-up questions were disclosed.

Result

Fivetran initially selected the other finalist. After that person declined, Fivetran returned and requested three professional references. The reference checks went well, and a verbal offer followed.

Leadership approval was still required. Leadership later raised concerns about experience and did not approve the hire, so no official offer was issued.

Key Takeaways

• Fivetran used a dedicated troubleshooting round in this Senior SRE loop.
• The process was unusually long: nine stages, more than ten interviewers, and several weeks.
• The technical loop covered live coding, troubleshooting, system design, and Kubernetes architecture.
• The troubleshooting task itself was not disclosed, so it should not be presented as a flamegraph or profiling question.
• A verbal offer was not final without leadership approval.

Source: Jointaro