30 min SQL coding (R1)
Out loud, in order: clarify, build it, check it, explain it.
Practise SQLLoadingone moment…
Data engineering interview · Finance, Payments & Fintech
Five rounds with a strong low-level/system-design bar (a Shazam-like design) and in-person hiring-manager rounds.
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And what its data engineers work with.
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Stages in the order candidates meet them.
5 stages. 3 rounds have reported questions, described below.
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The topics it covers and the questions candidates reported.
2 reported questions. See them below
1 reported question. See them below
strong bar
Medium confidence3 reported questions. See them below
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By round. Questions marked Expected are written from the company's standards.
SQLMedium confidence
Coding / LinuxMedium confidence
System / Low-Level DesignMedium confidence
Nobody reported these exact questions at PhonePe. They are the questions a loop for each of its top topics is known to ask, so prepare for them as likely, not as confirmed.
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Ranked by how much of the evidence points at each topic.
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Do the first group before the second.
SQL (timed coding, window functions)
Do first (3)Low-level + system design (components, microservices vs monolith, caching, SPOF, design patterns; hashing/sliding-window)
Linux basics
Spark/big-data internals (verify)
ThenProject deep-dive for HM rounds
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Why candidates were turned down, as reported.
Weak low-level/system design (APIs/classes/patterns)
Design is named in 27 of 50 company accounts.Shaky SQL
SQL is named in 37 of 50 company accounts.Thin project depth (probed hard in HM rounds)
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3 reported, 2 composite. Each opens and closes. Composites are labelled.
Five rounds. Round one was 30 minutes of SQL and 30 minutes of other topics. Others had coding, Linux and SQL, system and low-level design (microservices against monolith, databases, caching, single points of failure, design patterns, a Shazam-like hashing problem) and hiring manager rounds in Bengaluru.
What to take from it Prepare design basics: caching and single points of failure.
Not a data engineering account. A take-home coding task, a data structures round, a design round and a hiring manager round. The candidate got no offer over pay. Design and scale questions came up often.
What to take from it Know scale questions, and talk about pay early.
Not a data engineering account. A machine coding round, a high-level design round and a hiring manager round.
What to take from it Practise building a small working system in an hour.
Composite walkthroughs. Built from the company's documented loop, not from one person's account.
This is a composite, not one person's account. It is built from the loop we have on record for PhonePe. Questions reported for this round: 30 min SQL coding (R1); Window functions, dedup, transaction analytics.
What to take from it Practise these questions before you reach this round.
This is a composite, not one person's account. It is built from the loop we have on record for PhonePe. Questions reported for this round: Coding questions + Linux + SQL.
What to take from it Practise these questions before you reach this round.
Retrieved first-hand is partly SWE/big-data; DE-specific Spark questions are thin online — verify the loop.
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Their reported questions, one at a time, against a stopwatch.
30 min SQL coding (R1)
Out loud, in order: clarify, build it, check it, explain it.
Practise SQL10
Pick your level and the weeks you have.
Built from what PhonePe asks, strongest first. For the wider basics at your level, follow the Mid level plan alongside it.
Rehearse the PhonePe loop
Run the question deckThen repeat your weakest topic once more.