Preparing for your Senior IT Systems Engineer interview

This prep guide will guide you through the steps of our hiring process. Our process is designed to be clear, efficient, and mutually exploratory. All interviews are conducted via Zoom to ensure flexibility and speed, while still giving you the opportunity to meet the key stakeholders you’ll work with at Chainlink Labs. While this candidate experience is tailored to your role, please note that the process may be subject to change. We will contact you with any updates to notify you of any changes when and if they apply!  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to anyone on our team, we’re here to help!

Interview steps

Screening Interview

A 30-minute conversation with someone from our Talent Acquisition Team to go over your qualifications, the position requirements, and to go over our operating principles.

Hiring Manager Interview

This will be a 45 minute video interview with the hiring manager for the role you're interviewing for. They will be doing a deep dive on your resume and skills. You can expect to discuss your career goals, as they are seeking to determine if you're a good fit for the role.

Team Interviews

Part 1

  • Technical Interview (45 min): The purpose of this interview will be to get an understanding of your relevant technical experience. You can expect to discuss different types of automation, middleware, building custom apps leveraging API’s for cloud native integrations, etc. Please be prepared to walk through any project/deployments you have done, including the business impact of your efforts.
  • Technical Interview (45 min): The purpose of this interview will be to get an understanding of your relevant technical experience. You can expect to discuss public cloud infrastructure, infrastructure as code, CI/CD, cloud deployments, identity solutions, endpoint management, etc. Please be prepared to walk through any project/deployments you have done, including the business impact of your efforts.

Part 2

  • Security Stakeholder Interview (45 min): This conversation will be focused on security best practices and policies. You can expect to discuss general security knowledge and how it might be applied to IT systems or policies, as well as your level of scripting experience (Python and Bash).
  • Executive Interview (30 min): An executive interview is an interview in which you will meet with a high-level executive or manager, such as a C-Suite, VP, or Director. During this interview, you can expect to do a deep dive into your skills and experience as they are trying to gauge a mutual fit within the company.

Alignment Interview (Case-by-case)

The Alignment Interview is a 90-minute non-technical chat with a senior member from a different team to get a wider perspective on what it would mean for us to work together. It will be a conversation, not simply a Q&A. The purpose is to get your perspective on a variety of topics that are important to our CEO and our company as a whole. You will have a chance to talk about the company and ask any questions you have about our operating principles or working with us.

Closing Process

At this stage, you will be asked to submit your references, complete a background check, and attend a check-in call with the recruiter you've been working with during the interview process.

General tips for success
Listen carefully

It is perfectly fine to rephrase questions for better understanding or to request clarification. Also, if you need a moment to gather your thoughts, don't hesitate to let the interviewer know.

Be direct

Ensure your responses address the question directly. Avoid using pre-prepared examples that do not relate to the question being asked.

Focus on the process, not just the answer

The interviewer is interested in your problem-solving approach. Don't stress about finding the perfect answer. Be prepared for follow-up questions.

Communicate clearly

Explain your thought process out loud during the interview. This helps the interviewer understand your approach and reasoning.

Be ready

Remember, interviewing is a two-way street. Come prepared with thoughtful questions (e.g., team priorities, culture, etc.). We want you to feel comfortable and understand how the role aligns with your career goals.

Learn about us

We highly encourage you to visit our resources page to deepen your understanding of our organization. Familiarizing yourself with our mission, products, and recent initiatives can help you feel more confident and prepared for each step in the interview process.

Why join us?
Our mission

Build decentralized systems that link everything to the truth, creating a fair, unbiased world.

Why join us?

Joining the Chainlink Labs team means you will be working directly alongside an A-team of industry experts and will have a high degree of real responsibility in cultivating the growth of Chainlink. We’re pioneers shaping the future of blockchain, positioned at the forefront of a massive technological shift. Here, boldness isn’t optional—it’s essential.

Key Principles alignment

We are proud of our collaborative culture. Be prepared to discuss how you align with our Key Principles:

Ownership

We apply high standards in our work and take complete, unconditional responsibility for all outcomes. We always go the extra mile when helping one another, our users, and our community and working toward achieving our objectives.

Focus

Prioritizing outcomes and avoiding the many distractions in our industry enables us to pay full attention to our objectives and achieve more in less time without wasting energy.

Dialogue

Chainlink Labs is an idea meritocracy. We seek to arrive at the truth about every situation through open, honest, and constructive dialogue. We avoid personal biases and ego and seek to overcome the fear of engaging in productive conflict to arrive at truth.