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Preparing for staff/principal engineer system design rounds: what changes?

Aisha Nakamura
Aisha Nakamura
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Preparing for Staff or Principal Engineer system design rounds feels different from senior-level interviews. At the senior level, it often feels like proving you can design a working system. At the staff level, I've noticed a shift in emphasis, but I'm trying to pin down exactly what changes. There seems to be more ambiguity in the problem statement, requiring more clarification and assumption-making. There's also a stronger emphasis on trade-offs, not just technical ones, but also considering organizational impact, team structure, and long-term evolution of the system. It's less about 'build this' and more about 'architect a solution considering future growth, maintainability, and multiple teams working on it.' Are there specific areas where expectations shift significantly? For instance, how much more detail on organizational aspects or cross-team collaboration is expected? Any specific resources or strategies for preparing for these higher-level design discussions?
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