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  2. Decomposition

Decomposition interview questions

A vague customer problem to scope: clarify before solving, name the stakeholders and the data, then sequence the work by risk.

  1. A city transit agency says its buses are unreliable and riders are leaving. You have a week with their team. How do you approach it?

    Difficulty 2 of 5Palantir

  2. A grocery chain wants shorter checkout lines without hiring more staff. How do you approach it?

    Difficulty 2 of 5

  3. A regional food bank says donated food spoils before it reaches families. Decompose the problem.

    Difficulty 2 of 5

  4. A bank wants to approve small-business loans faster without taking more risk. How would you break this down?

    Difficulty 3 of 5

  5. A hospital group wants fewer patients readmitted soon after discharge. Where do you start?

    Difficulty 3 of 5

  6. A manufacturer says unplanned downtime is killing its margins. They have sensor data nobody uses. What do you do?

    Difficulty 3 of 5Databricks

  7. Here is a table of events from a fitness app. Pick one feature to build from it and scope it to something you could ship in two weeks.

    Difficulty 3 of 5Palantir

Other rounds

  • Recruiter screen
  • Hiring manager
  • Coding
  • Enterprise system design
  • Client simulation
  • Behavioral
  • AI systems and evaluation
  • Reliability and operations
  • SQL and data

All FDE interview questions, by round

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