Splunk is a leading platform for operational intelligence, empowering businesses to make sense of massive amounts of data. If you’re aiming to land a Splunk Software Engineer role, you’ll need to be prepared for a challenging interview that tests your technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, and understanding of the platform.
This guide provides you with a comprehensive overview of the Splunk Software Engineer interview process including the different stages, commonly asked questions and tips for success.
Navigating the Splunk Software Engineer Interview Process
The Splunk Software Engineer interview typically follows a three-stage format:
1. Initial Screen: This interview with a recruiter over the phone is about your CV, work experience, and why you want the job.
2. Technical Screen: This one-hour interview with the hiring manager and a Splunk software engineer assesses your technical skills in coding, systems design, algorithms, and data structures.
3. Onsite Round This extended version of the phone screen takes place on Splunk’s campus and consists of four rounds two technical one behavioral and an informal lunch interview.
Splunk Software Engineer Interview Questions
Here’s a comprehensive list of frequently asked Splunk Software Engineer interview questions categorized by stage
Initial Screen:
- Why are you interested in a career in software engineering?
- What attracts you to Splunk?
- What’s your understanding of Splunk’s capabilities?
Technical Screen:
Coding:
- Write Python code to check if a substring is part of a given string.
- Write Python code to accept strings containing all vowels.
- Given a matrix of size r*c, traverse it in spiral form.
- Write code to add an element in the middle of a linked list.
- Write a function to convert a sorted list into a binary search tree.
- Write code to check whether an array is a subset of another array.
- Create a class of university management system using all four pillars of OOP.
Systems Design:
- Design a database system for a supermarket.
- Design a secure password system for wearable devices.
- Design a recommendation system based on core attributes and features.
- Design a scalable system for tracking cabs violating rules.
- Design a movie ticket reservation system.
- Explain how you would design a chat application like Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger.
- Discuss managing Web Services API versioning.
- Design Splunk Design Server-driven system.
Algorithms and Data Structures:
- Given an array of n integers and a number Z, write an algorithm to find all unique pairs of elements (a,b) whose sum equals Z.
- Design LRU using basic data structures.
- Write an algorithm to implement preorder traversal in a binary search tree.
- How would you manage asset dependencies, and which data structures are useful for managing different types of dependencies?
- Give the algorithm to find the word in a paragraph with maximum occurrence.
Onsite Round:
Technical Round 1:
- Given n numbers (P1,P2,P3,…..Pn), divide them into m contiguous partitions such that the sum of the maximum is minimum.
- Write a program to add numbers present in a string, for example: in a string Gl223a45ssd908oo6r, the program should give 223 + 45 + 908 + 6 = 1182 as the result.
- Write a function to find the middle element of a singly linked list in one pass.
- Write code to search an element in a Binary Search Tree.
- Write a function to find all pairs of an integer array whose sum equals a given number.
- Given a character array, calculate the minimum no. of jumps from the 1st alphabet to reach the last alphabet. CRITERION: From a given character, you can either: 1. Jump to the adjacent character 2. Jump to the same character positioned in a different place.
Technical Round 2:
- Create a backend application using an in-memory database.
- Draw low-level design of an online bus booking system.
- Design a Billing System for a cloud-based Platform.
- Design a system that returns all restaurants within a 2 km radius of a user’s location.
- Design for a poker game where it consists of a few tables and each table consists of 6 chairs. The system has to allocate the available seats to the participants in the queue. Each participant will be allocated 100 poker chips.
Behavioral Rounds:
- Why have you chosen to apply to Splunk?
- Why do you want to pursue a career in software engineering?
- Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
- Tell me something about your approach to goal-setting.
- How do you handle pressure at work?
- Do you like working in a team? What is the best thing about working in a team?
- Have you ever felt demotivated at work? How did you overcome the situation?
Tips for Success:
- Practice coding and system design problems: Regularly solve coding and system design problems to hone your skills and prepare for the technical rounds.
- Review your Splunk knowledge: Refresh your understanding of Splunk’s capabilities, features, and use cases.
- Prepare for behavioral questions: Reflect on your experiences and prepare stories to showcase your problem-solving abilities, teamwork skills, and motivation.
- Research Splunk and its culture: Learn about Splunk’s values, work environment, and recent developments to demonstrate your interest in the company.
- Stay calm and confident: Approach the interview with a positive attitude, be confident in your abilities, and remain calm under pressure.
- Ask questions: Show your interest and engagement by asking thoughtful questions about the role, team, and company.
Additional Resources:
- Splunk Software Engineer Interview Questions (Top 25): https://interviewprep.org/splunk-software-engineer-interview-questions/
- Splunk Software Engineer Interview Guide: https://prepfully.com/interview-guides/splunk-software-engineer
By following these tips and utilizing the resources provided, you’ll be well-prepared to ace your Splunk Software Engineer interview and land your dream job.
Splunk Software Engineer Interview Guide
The Splunk Software Engineer interview is usually broken up into three stages: the first screen, the technical screen, and the on-site round.
LAUNCH your dream career!
Talk to a coach from your target company for:
The initial screen is a one-hour telephonic interview with the recruiter. Typically, the initial screen features questions related to your CV and work experience, if any. The first screen is meant to see if the candidate is interested in the job and if they have the right experience and skills for the job and the company. People who are just out of college should be very careful with their CV and any projects or internships they may have had while they were there.
Most asked interview questions in the Initial Screen.
- What made you decide to become a software engineer?
- Why Splunk?
- What do you know about Splunk?
The technical screen is a one-hour interview with the hiring manager and a Splunk software engineer. This round is aimed at assessing your technical skills in the following areas:
- Coding
- Systems Design
- Algorithms and Data Structures
Coding
There will be questions on the technical screen that test the candidate’s general programming skills in the “coding aptitude” section. The focus will primarily be on object-oriented programming. Students need to be proficient in at least one of the programming languages among C++, Java, and Python. Also, questions to test your clarity of the OOP concept may be asked. Typically, the interviewer asks 2-3 coding questions that need to be attempted through a shared online code editor.
Most commonly asked Coding questions in the Technical screen:
- Here’s some Python code to see if a substring is part of a given string:
- Write Python code that will accept strings with only vowels.
- Given a matrix of size r*c. Traverse the matrix in spiral form.
- Here’s the code to add an item to the middle of a linked list:
- You can turn a sorted list into a binary search tree by writing a function.
- Here’s some code to see if an array is part of another array:
- Use all four pillars of the oops concept to make a class of university management system.
System Design
Systems design includes things like system architecture, product design, modules, interfaces, and data that a system needs to meet certain needs. The interviewer may ask questions on front-end design, back-end design, scalability, and more in this section.
Most asked Splunk Software Engineer interview questions on System Design
- Can you design a database system for a Supermarket?
- Design a secure password system for wearable devices
- How would you design and build the different modules of a recommendation system that is based on core attributes and features?
- Create a system that can be expanded to keep track of taxis that are breaking the rules.
- Can you design a movie ticket reservation system?
- Tell me how you would make a chat app like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
- Tell me how you would handle versioning of Web Services APIs.
- Design Splunk Design Server driven system.
Algorithms and Data Structures
Algorithms and data structures is a staple of almost all Software Engineering interviews, and Splunk is no different. Question areas to focus here would be Linked Lists, Queues, Stacks, Binary Search Trees, and Arrays.
Most asked Splunk Software Engineer interview questions on algorithms and data structures:
- Given a list of n integers and the number Z, you need to write an algorithm that finds all the pairs of integers (a,b) whose sum is Z.
- Design LRU using basic data structures.
- Come up with a way to do preorder traversal in a binary search tree.
- How would you handle dependencies between assets? What kinds of data structures can help you handle different kinds of dependencies?
- Give the code to find the word that appears most often in a paragraph.
The onsite round is an extended version of the phone screen. It is conducted on Splunks campus, and consists of 4 rounds, two technical, and two behavioural. The behavioral round lasts for an hour and a half, while each of the technical rounds lasts for an hour. There will be a 15-minute lunch interview with a current software engineer in the middle where you can ask any questions you have about the role, responsibilities, etc.
Technical Round 1
The technical rounds are conducted by a senior software developer at Splunk.
The first technical round would mostly feature coding questions. It will feature at least two coding problems. Candidates should be prepared to code in C/Java, or Python.
Most asked coding questions in the Onsite Round:
- Given n numbers (P1,P2,P3,. Pn). Split them up into m separate parts so that the sum of the highest and lowest numbers is
- Write a program that will add the numbers in a string. For example, if you give the string Gl223a45ssd908oo6r, the program should return 223 x 45 x 908 x 6 = 1182.
- Come up with a way to find the middle item in a list that is only linked to itself.
- Write code that will look for an item in a Binary Search Tree.
- Writing a function to find all integer pairs whose sum is equal to a certain number is what you need to do.
- Given a character array, calculate the minimum no. of jumps from 1st alphabet to reach the last alphabet. CRITERION: From a given character, you can either: 1. Jump to the adjacent character 2. Jump to the same character positioned in a different place.
Technical Round 2
The second technical round will feature system design questions. It will feature at least 2-3 system design questions. Interviewers may ask back-end design, frontend design, as well as scalability questions.
Most commonly asked System Design question in the onsite round
- Create a backend application using an in-memory database.
- Draw low level design of online bus booking system.
- Design a Billing System for a cloud-based Platform.
- Create a system that tells a user about all the restaurants within 2 km of where they are.
- Plan for a poker game with several tables and six chairs at each table. And the system has to give the people in line the seats that are available. And each participant will be allocated 100 poker chips.
Behavioural Rounds
The two behavioural rounds are aimed at assessing behavioural aspects of your personality. You may be asked situational questions as to how you tackled a particular situation. The people interviewing you may also want to know why you want to be a software engineer or why you chose Splunk. There may also be a few scenario-based questions to test your leadership skills.
The most fundamental thing to keep in mind in behavioural interviews is tobe honest in your replies. Always expect that you and the interviewers will go back and forth over a question or answer, so be ready for that.
Most commonly asked questions in the Behavioral section
- Why have you chosen to apply to Splunk?
- What made you decide to become a software engineer?
- Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
- Tell me something about your approach to goal-setting.
- How do you handle pressure at work?
- What’s the best thing about working with other people?
- Have you ever been unmotivated at work? If so, what did you do to get back on track?
- Stick to the “Think out loud” method to show the interviewers how you’re going to answer. Make sure not to rush to answer any question.
- Do not hesitate to ask clarifying questions.
- Get to know Splunk’s values, work culture, and other things before the behavioral interview. Also, prepare some examples to use in the scenario-based questions about your past jobs, including what you did well, what problems you had, and how you solved them.
With the above pointers, we are sure you would crack the Splunk Software Engineer interview. Hope you found the guide useful.
The role of a Splunk Software Engineer
Splunk is an American tech company based in San Francisco, California. It makes software that lets you search, monitor, and analyze data generated by machines using a Web-based interface. Let us know the role and responsibilities of a Splunk Software engineer.
Role and responsibility
- Write backend code for Splunk search infrastructure.
- Build robust, fault-tolerant distributed systems in a multi-threaded/multi-process environment.
- Look at how to make it easier to get, route, and collect data across multiple deployments and make it scalable.
- Look at how scalable data collection, routing, storage, and retrieval are and make them better.
- Define and perform various search language layer optimizations/transformations.
Skills/qualifications required
- 5 years of experience in a related field and a technical bachelor’s degree, or the equivalent in real-world experience
- Learn how to code and fix bugs in any object-oriented language, such as C.
- Solid understanding of how AWS services, like EC2, S3 etc. are used.
- It’s helpful to have a good understanding of backend systems, storage, filesystems, memory, and multi-threading.
- Familiarity with any query language like SQL, SPL etc.
- Have a good foundation in data structures, algorithms, software design.
- Knowledge of modern distributed system design and implementation.
Splunk Software Engineer salary
- Entry-level salary: USD 192,000
- Senior positions: USD 460,000.
- Median salary: USD 238,000, with USD 156,000 in base pay, USD 68,000 in stock pay, and USD 14,000 in bonus pay.
Splunk Software Engineer Interview Questions and Answers | Splunk Security Interview Question
How do you answer Splunk interview questions?
Here are the answers to 10 basic Splunk interview questions. Use them to review your candidates’ responses during interviews. 1. Explain what Splunk is. Applicants should know that Splunk is an application that enables data scientists and machine-learning engineers to monitor, search through, and analyze machine data.
What questions should you ask a Splunk engineer?
Diving into the technical aspects of the role, interviewers ask this question to gauge your understanding of the Splunk architecture and its components. Splunk Engineers need to know the functionalities of forwarders and indexers, as they play a critical role in data collection, processing, and storage.
What is the Splunk hiring process?
The Splunk hiring process typically begins with an initial screening call with human resources, followed by a series of interviews with managers and directors within the organization. These interviews may be conducted via Zoom and can include technical assessments, behavioral questions, and case studies.
What do interviewers want from Splunk?
Visualizations are an integral part of Splunk, allowing users to easily understand and interpret complex data. Interviewers want to know if you have experience in creating custom visualizations that cater to specific business needs, showcasing your ability to adapt and think creatively.
