As a Software Engineer at Sense, you will play a pivotal role in designing, building, and scaling the core architectures that power our technical ecosystem. This position demands a high degree of technical versatility, as you will tackle complex algorithmic challenges, construct robust distributed systems, and directly influence the reliability and performance of our engineering products. Whether you are optimizing data pipelines, designing resilient storage layers, or architecting complex backend workflows, your contributions will directly shape the user experience and drive our engineering capabilities forward. The problem spaces you will encounter require both creative problem-solving and rigorous engineering discipline. You will work alongside cross-functional teams of product managers, designers, and fellow engineers to translate ambitious product visions into stable, production-ready code. What makes this role particularly exciting is the breadth of technical ownership you will hold; you are not just writing code, but actively contributing to architectural decisions and system design patterns that scale. Expect a fast-paced, collaborative environment where your technical judgement is valued from day one. values engineers who take initiative, communicate effectively, and demonstrate deep curiosity about how systems operate at scale.
Phone Screening
reportedInitial call to evaluate candidate's background and fit for the role.
What to demonstrate
- Initial call to evaluate candidate's background and fit for the role
- Depth in System Design
How to prepare
- Be able to walk your CV end to end in two minutes, and say why this company specifically.
- Have your salary expectations, notice period and location constraints ready, and ask for the rest of the loop in writing.
Technical Interviews
reportedSeries of interviews assessing technical skills and problem-solving abilities.
What to demonstrate
- Series of interviews assessing technical skills and problem-solving abilities
- Depth in System Design
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: 1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
- Answer aloud and timed: Bullet list of realistic example questions: Design and implement a versioned key-value store. Outline the architecture for a spreadsheet, SQL, or Excel design implementation. Discuss system design strategies for managing large-scale infrastructure and data flows.
Final Onsite Meeting
reportedIn-person meeting to further evaluate fit and discuss role specifics.
What to demonstrate
- In-person meeting to further evaluate fit and discuss role specifics
- Depth in System Design
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: 1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
- Answer aloud and timed: Bullet list of realistic example questions: How do you troubleshoot a client PC that is failing to connect to a server? Discuss general IT infrastructure management practices and operational standards. Explain your approach to writing technical papers or documentation on infrastructure management.
PracHub editorial advice for the preparation topics above.
Communicate your thought process
Always talk through your reasoning before writing code or drawing system components. Interviewers at Sense care deeply about how you arrive at a solution.
Clarify requirements early
Never jump straight into coding or design without asking clarifying questions about scale, constraints, and edge cases.
Practice live coding under constraints
Simulate real interview conditions by writing code on a blank text editor or whiteboard without syntax highlighting.
Choose a category, try a prompt, then open its approach, worked solution or follow-up when you need it.
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Bullet list of realistic example questions: Implement a mechanism for resumable iterators. Solve a path resolu
Bullet list of realistic example questions: Implement a mechanism for resumable iterators. Solve a path resolution problem involving symlinks. Write a multithreaded web crawler capable of handling concurrency and edge cases.
Approach
- Say what the runtime actually does before reasoning about the code.
- Name what is shared across threads and what owns each piece of state.
- Identify the window where an invariant is briefly untrue.
- Distinguish a value from a reference to it, and say which one you handed out.
Follow-up
- What happens if two callers reach this at the same time?
- Where could this allocate more than you expect?
Canonicalise a request body into a stable idempotency fingerprint
idempotency_key.request_fingerprint is a SHA-256 over the method, path and canonicalised body, and a retry whose fingerprint differs must be rejected with 422 rather than served the stored response. Write the canonicaliser. Bodies are JSON up to 256 KB nested at most 32 levels; clients vary key order, whitespace and unicode escaping, and some send 64-bit ids as JSON numbers. Produce a deterministic byte string such that semantically identical bodies match and any semantic difference does not. State your complexity and name two normalisations you refuse to perform.
Approach
- Parse once into a tree, then re-serialise under fixed rules: object keys sorted, array order preserved, one escaping convention, no insignificant whitespace. Parsing is O(n) and sorting keys is O(k log k) per object, so O(n log n) overall with O(depth) stack, and the 32-level cap is enforced during parsing because hostile nesting is how a canonicaliser becomes a stack overflow.
- Sort keys by their UTF-8 bytes and say why the obvious implementation is wrong in some runtimes: a default string comparison that orders by UTF-16 code units places surrogate pairs, meaning code points from U+10000 up, below U+E000 to U+FFFF, which is not UTF-8 byte order, so two services written in different languages disagree on the same document.
- Do not re-encode numbers through a double. IEEE-754 binary64 represents integers exactly only up to 2^53, so normalising a 19-digit id through a float changes it, and 1 against 1.0 cannot be reconciled without deciding whether they are the same value. Preserve the literal token, and require ids as strings at the API boundary if you want them comparable.
- Reject duplicate keys rather than picking one. JSON permits them and parsers disagree, most keeping the last, so any choice you make ties the fingerprint to a parser detail that the code handling the request does not necessarily share.
Follow-up
- A client sends the same logical request with an extra field your API ignores. Same key, different fingerprint, so you return 422. Is that the right answer?
- Where does the fingerprint get computed relative to request decompression and the body-size limit?
Stop tag and share joins from fanning out a page
resource_tag is (resource_id, tag_id) with PK (resource_id, tag_id); resource_share is (resource_id, shared_with_user_id, permission). The tagged-and-shared listing inner-joins resource to both, filters tenant_id, tag_id = ANY($2) and shared_with_user_id = $3, orders by updated_at DESC and takes 50. Pages come back with fewer than 50 distinct resources and the total in the header is far too high. Explain the row multiplication, rewrite both the page query and the count query so each is correct, and name the index each one needs. PostgreSQL 16.
Approach
- Do the arithmetic against the predicates that are actually there. An inner join emits one row per matching child row, and both joins are filtered: tag_id = ANY($2) admits only the requested tags, shared_with_user_id = $3 admits one user's share rows. So a resource holding three of the requested tags and shared with $3 once yields three rows, not one — the multiplier is its count of matching tags times its share rows for that single user, and that second factor is 1 unless the table admits duplicate (resource_id, shared_with_user_id) pairs. LIMIT 50 then limits rows rather than resources, and COUNT(*) counts pairs — the header is the product, not the population.
- Reject DISTINCT as the fix. It deduplicates after the product has been built, so the planner must materialise and sort the fanned-out set before the LIMIT can apply, and it leaves any SUM or AVG in the same select list wrong.
- Rewrite both filters as semi-joins, keeping resource as the only row source: AND EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM resource_tag rt WHERE rt.resource_id = r.resource_id AND rt.tag_id = ANY($2)) and the same shape against resource_share. A semi-join stops at the first match per resource and preserves the driving index order, so ORDER BY updated_at DESC, resource_id DESC LIMIT 50 still stops after 50 rows.
- Count with the same predicates and no join at all: SELECT count(*) FROM resource r WHERE r.tenant_id = $1 AND r.status = 'active' AND EXISTS (...) AND EXISTS (...). Nothing multiplies a resource, so the number is the population.
Follow-up
- The filter changes from 'any of these tags' to 'all of these tags'. Rewrite it and state what it costs relative to the ANY form.
- A resource can be shared with the same user twice under different permissions. Does your count change, and should it?
Find version gaps and relay lag with window functions
outbox_event holds event_id, aggregate_type, aggregate_id, aggregate_version, event_type, payload, status ('pending','published','dead'), attempts, created_at, published_at. A projection is missing rows and you must decide whether the relay skipped events or the consumer dropped them. Write three queries over the last seven days: one listing every aggregate_id whose published aggregate_version sequence has a hole, one giving per-day counts with a running total, and one returning the newest published event per aggregate. For each, say where the window function is evaluated relative to WHERE and LIMIT. PostgreSQL 16.
Approach
- Gaps: compute lead(aggregate_version) OVER (PARTITION BY aggregate_id ORDER BY aggregate_version) in a subquery, then filter next_version <> aggregate_version + 1 in the outer query. Window functions are evaluated after WHERE, GROUP BY and HAVING and before the outer ORDER BY and LIMIT, so the predicate cannot sit in the same WHERE clause and PostgreSQL 16 has no QUALIFY.
- Say what the seven-day filter does to the answer: it truncates every partition, so the first row per aggregate has no predecessor inside the window and a hole spanning the boundary is invisible. Widen the window, or join to resource.version as the authority for the true maximum.
- Running total: SELECT date_trunc('day', created_at) AS d, count() AS n, sum(count()) OVER (ORDER BY date_trunc('day', created_at) ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING). An aggregate inside a window call is legal because grouping runs before windowing. The grouping key is unique per row here so ROWS and RANGE agree, but write the frame anyway — over ungrouped rows with tied timestamps the default RANGE frame pulls in every peer row and the total jumps.
- Newest per aggregate: DISTINCT ON (aggregate_id) ... ORDER BY aggregate_id, aggregate_version DESC is the cheap PostgreSQL-only form when an index matches that order; row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY aggregate_id ORDER BY aggregate_version DESC) = 1 is the portable form and needs a subquery for the same evaluation-order reason as the gap query.
Follow-up
- Relay failover redelivers events. Does a duplicate break the gap query, and how would you detect one from this table alone?
- Turn the gap check into a continuous monitor rather than a query someone runs after an incident. What does it watch?
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
Bullet list of realistic example questions: Design and implement a versioned key-value store. Outline the arch
Bullet list of realistic example questions: Design and implement a versioned key-value store. Outline the architecture for a spreadsheet, SQL, or Excel design implementation. Discuss system design strategies for managing large-scale infrastructure and data flows.
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
Approach
- Establish what changed and when, before forming any theory.
- Pick a bisection that eliminates candidates whichever way it turns out.
- Check the instrumentation before believing the symptom.
- Separate the trigger from the cause; the deploy is rarely the bug.
Follow-up
- What would you look at first, and what would it rule out?
- How would you tell a cause from a coincidence here?
Bullet list of realistic example questions: How do you troubleshoot a client PC that is failing to connect to
Bullet list of realistic example questions: How do you troubleshoot a client PC that is failing to connect to a server? Discuss general IT infrastructure management practices and operational standards. Explain your approach to writing technical papers or documentation on infrastructure management.
Approach
- Establish what changed and when, before forming any theory.
- Pick a bisection that eliminates candidates whichever way it turns out.
- Check the instrumentation before believing the symptom.
- Separate the trigger from the cause; the deploy is rarely the bug.
Follow-up
- What would you look at first, and what would it rule out?
- How would you tell a cause from a coincidence here?
Built from the rounds and topics Sense candidates report.
Prepare, practise & reflect
One practical outcome each day. Spend longer where you need it.
0 / 7 done01Map the Sense loop
- Write out the reported sequence: Phone Screening, Technical Interviews, Final Onsite Meeting.
- For each round, write one sentence on what it is judging, from the description above, and mark the one you are least ready for.
Deliverable: A one-page map of the 3 reported rounds, with the weakest marked.
02Work System Design
- Spend the session on System Design, which Sense candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in System Design and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in System Design.
03Work Coding Interviews (Algorithmic Problem Solving)
- Spend the session on Coding Interviews (Algorithmic Problem Solving), which Sense candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Coding Interviews (Algorithmic Problem Solving) and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Coding Interviews (Algorithmic Problem Solving).
04Work Concurrency and Multithreading
- Spend the session on Concurrency and Multithreading, which Sense candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Concurrency and Multithreading and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Concurrency and Multithreading.
05Answer out loud: Coding and Algorithms
- Answer aloud, timed: 1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
- Answer aloud, timed: Bullet list of realistic example questions: Implement a mechanism for resumable iterators. Solve a path resolution problem involving symlinks. Write a multithreaded web crawler capable of handling concurrency and edge cases.
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Coding and Algorithms question(s), under time.
06Answer out loud: System Design and Architecture
- Answer aloud, timed: 1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
- Answer aloud, timed: Bullet list of realistic example questions: Design and implement a versioned key-value store. Outline the architecture for a spreadsheet, SQL, or Excel design implementation. Discuss system design strategies for managing large-scale infrastructure and data flows.
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported System Design and Architecture question(s), under time.
07Answer out loud: IT Infrastructure and Troubleshooting
- Answer aloud, timed: 1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
- Answer aloud, timed: Bullet list of realistic example questions: How do you troubleshoot a client PC that is failing to connect to a server? Discuss general IT infrastructure management practices and operational standards. Explain your approach to writing technical papers or documentation on infrastructure management.
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported IT Infrastructure and Troubleshooting question(s), under time.
Expand any day for tasks and deliverables. Your progress is saved on this device.
Behavioural rounds judge the decision you made and what it cost.
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Bullet list of realistic example questions: Walk through your background and discuss how you have handled diff
Bullet list of realistic example questions: Walk through your background and discuss how you have handled difficult situations in the past. What type of worker are you, and what kind of environment do you thrive in? Describe a challenging project you delivered and how you collaborated with your team to overcome roadblocks.
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Reverse your own decision and price the reversal
Describe a technical decision you made and later reversed. Pick one that cost something: a service you split and merged back, a cache you added and removed, an index you created that pushed the planner onto a worse plan, a projection you rebuilt from scratch. State what you believed when you decided, the measurement that changed your mind, how long the wrong version ran in production, and what the reversal cost in migrations, dual writes, and a deprecation window for callers you did not own.
Approach
- State the original rationale without irony, in the version you would still defend given what was known then. If it is not defensible, the story is about carelessness rather than judgement, and a different example serves you better.
- Give the measurement that moved with a before and after: the p99 that did not improve, the cache hit rate that sat at 40%, the plan that flipped to a sequential scan once the table passed a size you can name.
- Cost the reversal in steps, not adjectives: expand-and-contract deploys, the dual-write window, the callers who had to be notified, the rows already written in the wrong shape that had to be backfilled or abandoned.
- Distinguish reversal from rewrite by naming what you kept. Most good reversals preserve the schema or the interface and undo one decision inside it, which is also why they were affordable.
Follow-up
- What in that decision was irreversible, and did you know it was irreversible when you made it?
- How did you tell the people who had already built on top of the original decision?
- 01
1–2 sentences introducing the category and what it tests.
- 02
Bullet list of realistic example questions: Walk through your background and discuss how you have handled difficult situations in the past. What type of worker are you, and what kind of environment do you thrive in? Describe a challenging project you delivered and how you collaborated with your team to overcome roadblocks.
- 03
Describe a technical decision you made and later reversed. Pick one that cost something: a service you split and merged back, a cache you added and removed, an index you created that pushed the planner onto a worse plan, a projection you rebuilt from scratch. State what you believed when you decided, the measurement that changed your mind, how long the wrong version ran in production, and what the reversal cost in migrations, dual writes, and a deprecation window for callers you did not own.
How difficult is the interview process at Sense?
The interview process is rigorous and designed to test both your technical depth and system design capabilities. Expect thoughtful, challenging questions that reflect real engineering problems, but approach them knowing the interviewers are looking for your problem-solving process as much as the final answer.
Sense Software Engineer candidate reports ↗How much time should I spend preparing?
Most candidates benefit from 4 to 6 weeks of dedicated preparation. Focus this time on brushing up on data structures, practicing live coding without an IDE autocomplete, and sketching out large-scale system architectures on a whiteboard or virtual canvas.
Sense Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What differentiates successful candidates from others?
Successful candidates excel at communicating their thought process clearly, validating their assumptions early, and considering edge cases proactively. They treat the interview as a collaborative discussion rather than an interrogation.
Sense Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What is the typical interview timeline?
The entire process from initial recruiter screen to final decision typically spans a few weeks. Recruiters work diligently to keep candidates informed and ensure timely scheduling between rounds.
Sense Software Engineer candidate reports ↗Are interviews conducted remotely?
Yes, technical screens and many interview rounds are conducted remotely using collaborative coding environments and video conferencing tools, allowing you to interview from the comfort of your workspace.
Sense Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What topics does Sense test in interviews?
Sense interviews most often cover Behavioral Interviewing, Communication Skills, Product Sense (PM) interview, Data Modeling, and Data Science (Role Fundamentals). The exact emphasis depends on the specific role you apply for.
Sense Software Engineer candidate reports ↗Sources & methodology 3 sources ↗
No official company page is cited. Rounds and questions come from candidate reports and PracHub editorial material; each source shows the date it was read.
- 01Sense Software Engineer candidate reports ↗
Company-reported rounds, questions and FAQ.
Candidate reports · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 02PracHub Software Engineer practice ↗
PracHub practice material, not company-reported.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 03PracHub preparation framework ↗
PracHub preparation guidance.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22
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