A prep guide for technical interviews
Everything you need to know to prepare for a technical interview with our Engineering team.
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What is Chainlink Labs?
Chainlink Labs is one of the primary contributing developers of Chainlink, the decentralized computing platform powering the verifiable web. We're a world-class team of 500+ developers, researchers, capital markets experts, and startup operators dedicated to the development and integration of Chainlink as the industry-standard platform for providing access to real-world data, offchain computation, and secure cross-chain interoperability across any blockchain.
Chainlink: the global standard powering mainstream blockchain adoption
Chainlink has emerged as core infrastructure for powering the verifiable web and onchain finance. Chainlink has enabled over $16 trillion in transaction value and powers verifiable applications and high-integrity markets for banking, DeFi, global trade, gaming, and other major sectors.
As more users realize the superiority of verifiable applications, more assets and applications will leverage Chainlink as the universal platform for pioneering the future of global markets onchain.
What to expect in the interview
Your interview will focus on several key areas, including your understanding of blockchain technology, technical proficiency, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit.
Understanding blockchain and smart contracts
Be prepared to discuss the basics of blockchain, smart contracts, and decentralized finance (DeFi). Understand how Chainlink’s decentralized oracle networks connect smart contracts with real-world data and offchain computation.
Technical Proficiency
Expect questions related to your specific technical skills. For software engineers, this might include coding challenges, system design questions, and discussions on blockchain architecture. For other technical roles, be ready to solve problems relevant to blockchain and smart contracts.
Problem-solving and innovation
Show your ability to think critically and innovate. Chainlink Labs values engineers who can address complex challenges in blockchain interoperability and data integrity.
Key Principles alignment
We are proud of our collaborative culture. Be prepared to discuss how you align with our Key Principles. Highlight your previous experiences where you demonstrated these qualities.
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.
To get ready for your interview, read through the job description and make sure you have an understanding of what could be expected in the role.
Interview steps
Screening interview
A 30-minute conversation with someone from our Talent Acquisition Team to discuss the role, position requirements, and our key principles.
Tip: Reflect on your application and why you’ve applied for this role. Come prepared with questions and examples that demonstrate your alignment with our principles of ownership, dialogue, and focus.
Engineering manager interview
A 45 to 60-minute video interview with an Engineering Manager to delve into your resume and skills, and discuss your career goals. This will normally be with the Engineering Leader from the team you would be joining, but we want to make sure we are finding the right fit for you - so we may introduce you to another Engineering Manager later in the process to ensure we have the most appropriate team alignment to your goals and skillset.
Tip: Be ready to discuss specific examples of high-impact work and how your experience aligns with the role and our principles of ownership and delivering high-quality work.
Team interviews
Three technically focused interviews diving in to the following topics:
- Algorithms: Expect to design and build a well functioning solution by writing effective clean, readable code with edge cases in mind.
- Distributed System Design: We will go over a systems design question and dive into components as time allows. We’ll focus on how to build a large-scale distributed service in a reliable fault-tolerant way.
- Skill specific interview: Your recruiter will give you more information about this interview as we will dive deeper on particular skills related to the position you are interviewing for. If the role has a niche requirement like SRE / DevOps / Solidity skills, we will dive deeper there. Alternatively, we will have a Component Design & Implementation Interview where we will go over the system design for a medium-sized component, and also dive into partial implementation for it. It will cover designing and coding against provided interfaces. The domain will be similar to our team’s technical landscape.
Tip: Be genuine and keep our key principles in mind. Show how you fit into the team and demonstrate your commitment to dialogue and focus. Ensure you are booking time with your recruiter to discuss the interview in more detail - we are happy to assist!
Executive interview
An interview with an executive or manager, such as a C-Suite, VP, or Director, normally from the same org that you are interviewing for.
Tip: Use the resources provided on our resources page. Be prepared to discuss how your experience and skills align with the expectations of the role.
Preparing for the technical interview
This will be a live coding exercise. We recommend not to jump right into solving the problem, first clarify the problem with the interviewers. Here are some tips to help you succeed:
Review blockchain fundamentals
Ensure you have a solid understanding of blockchain concepts, including consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, and decentralized applications. Resources like Chainlink’s official documentation and the Chainlink blog can be very helpful.
Practice coding and problem-solving
Engage in coding practice on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank. Focus on algorithms, data structures, and blockchain-specific problems. Be prepared to demonstrate your coding skills during the interview.
Understand Chainlink’s technology
Familiarize yourself with key Chainlink services like the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and Data Feeds. Understanding how these technologies work and their impact on the blockchain ecosystem will be crucial.
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.