Gametime United connects people through live experiences, offering a seamless last-minute ticket purchasing platform available on iOS, Android, mobile web, and desktop for events across the US and Canada. By emphasizing a mobile-first world, Gametime reimagines the event ticket experience, making it simpler, faster, and more user-friendly.

At Gametime, the Data Engineer plays a crucial role in supporting various functions like data, product, marketing, finance, and operations. This position involves developing reliable and accurate data pipelines, creating processes for new data sources, maintaining data alerting infrastructure, and collaborating across the organization to solve critical business issues. Ideal candidates are organized, technically proficient in SQL and Python, and possess strong problem-solving skills and experience in user-centric product analysis.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the interview process, some commonly asked Gametime United Data Engineer interview questions, and provide valuable tips. Let's get started!

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Gametime United as a Data Engineer. Whether you were contacted by a recruiter from Gametime United or have taken the initiative yourself, carefully review the job description and tailor your CV according to the prerequisites.

Tailoring your CV may include identifying specific keywords that the hiring manager might use to filter resumes and crafting a targeted cover letter. Furthermore, don’t forget to highlight relevant skills and mention your work experiences.

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your CV happens to be among the shortlisted few, a recruiter from the Gametime United Talent Acquisition Team will make contact and verify key details like your experiences and skill level. Behavioral questions may also be a part of the screening process.

In some cases, the Gametime United hiring manager stays present during the screening round to answer your queries about the role and the company itself. They may also indulge in surface-level technical and behavioral discussions.

The whole recruiter call should take about 30 minutes.

Technical Virtual Interview

Successfully navigating the recruiter round will present you with an invitation for the technical screening round. Technical screening for the Gametime United Data Engineer role usually is conducted through virtual means, including video conference and screen sharing. Questions in this 1-hour long interview stage may revolve around data systems, ETL pipelines, and SQL queries.

In the case of Data Engineer roles, take-home assignments regarding ETL processes, data architecture, and data visualization are incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency against data pipeline development, problem-solving, and programming fundamentals may also be assessed during the round.

Depending on the seniority of the position, case studies and similar real-scenario problems may also be assigned.

Onsite Interview Rounds

Followed by a second recruiter call outlining the next stage, you’ll be invited to attend the onsite interview loop. Multiple interview rounds, varying with the role, will be conducted during your day at the Gametime United office. Your technical prowess, including programming and data architecture capabilities, will be evaluated against the finalized candidates throughout these interviews.

If you were assigned take-home exercises, a presentation round may also await you during the onsite interview for the Data Engineer role at Gametime United.

Quick Tips For Gametime United Data Engineer Interviews

You should plan to brush up on any technical skills and try as many practice interview questions and mock interviews as possible. A few tips for acing your Gametime United interview include:

• Understand the Event Ticketing Domain: Gametime United revolves around live events and last-minute ticketing. Knowledge about how data can optimize ticket sales, user experience, and event forecasting can be very useful.
• Brush Up on ETL Processes: Given the focus on data pipelines and infrastructure, having a strong grasp of ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes is essential. Be prepared for questions around building, optimizing, and troubleshooting ETL pipelines.
• Stay Current with Technologies: Gametime United is a fast-paced company. Familiarize yourself with the latest trends and technologies in data engineering, especially those relevant to gaming or marketplace industries, and be ready to discuss how they can be applied to your role.

Typically, interviews at Gametime United vary by role and team, but commonly Data Engineer interviews follow a fairly standardized process across these question topics.

• How would you explain what a p-value is to someone who is not technical? Explain a p-value in simple terms to a non-technical person, focusing on its role in determining the significance of results in experiments or studies.

• Write a function to simulate coin tosses with a given probability of heads. Create a function that takes the number of tosses and the probability of heads as inputs. The function should return a list of 'H' or 'T' representing the outcomes of the coin tosses.

• How much do you expect to pay for a sports game ticket considering the risk of a scalped ticket not working? Calculate the expected cost of attending the game by considering the probability of the scalped ticket not working and the cost of buying a box office ticket if needed. Determine how much money to set aside for the game.

• What is the probability of drawing three cards in increasing order from a shuffled deck of 500 cards? Calculate the probability that each subsequent card drawn from a shuffled deck of 500 cards will be larger than the previous one.

• How do you calculate the average lifetime value for a SAAS company? Given the product costs $100 per month, a 10% monthly churn rate, and an average customer lifetime of 3.5 months, derive the formula to calculate the average lifetime value.

• What metrics would you use to determine the value of each marketing channel? Given all the different marketing channels and their respective costs at Mode, a B2B analytics dashboard company, what metrics would you use to evaluate the value of each marketing channel?

• What would you do if friend requests are down 10% on Facebook? A product manager at Facebook informs you that friend requests have decreased by 10%. What steps would you take to address this issue?

• How would you improve Google Maps and measure the success of your improvements? As a PM on Google Maps, how would you improve the application? What metrics would you use to evaluate the success of your feature improvements?

• How do you calculate the average lifetime value for a SAAS company? For a SAAS company that has existed for just over a year, with a product costing $100 per month, a 10% monthly churn rate, and an average customer lifespan of 3.5 months, how would you calculate the average lifetime value?

• How would you analyze the churn behavior of Netflix users on different pricing plans? Netflix has two pricing plans: $15/month or $100/year. An executive wants you to analyze the churn behavior of users subscribed to either plan. What metrics, graphs, or models would you use to provide an overarching view of subscription performance?

• Write a Python program to check if each string in a list has all the same characters. Given a list of strings, write a Python program to check whether each string has all the same characters or not. Determine the complexity of this program.

• Write a function to determine if a string is a palindrome. Given a string, write a function to determine if it is a palindrome or not. A palindrome reads the same forwards and backwards.

• Create a function to simulate coin tosses based on a given probability of heads. Write a function that takes the number of tosses and the probability of heads as input and returns a list of randomly generated results representing the outcomes of the coin tosses.

• Develop a function to perform bootstrap sampling and calculate a confidence interval. Given an array of numerical values, bootstrap samples, and size for a confidence interval, write a function to perform bootstrap sampling and calculate the confidence interval.

• Write a program to determine the term frequency (TF) values for each term in a document. Given a text document in the form of a string, write a program in Python to determine the term frequency (TF) values for each term in the document. Round the term frequency to 2 decimal points.

• What metrics would you use to track accuracy and validity of a spam classifier model? Assume you have built a V1 of a spam classifier for emails. What metrics would you use to track the model's accuracy and validity?

• How would you evaluate the suitability and performance of a decision tree model for predicting loan repayment? You are tasked with building a decision tree model to predict if a borrower will repay a personal loan. How would you evaluate if a decision tree is the correct model? If you proceed with it, how would you evaluate its performance before and after deployment?

• What is Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and its use cases in machine learning? Explain the concept of Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) in machine learning. What are some practical use cases for LDA?

• How would you collect and aggregate unstructured video data for an ETL pipeline? You are designing an ETL pipeline for a model that uses videos as input. How would you collect and aggregate data for multimedia information, specifically unstructured data from videos?

• How would you determine which search engine performed better and which metrics to track? You are working on building a better search engine for Google. After building it, how would you determine if it serves better results than the existing one in production? Which metrics would you track?

What is the average salary for a Data Engineer at Gametime United?

Q: What is Gametime United all about?

Gametime United aims to unite the world through shared live experiences by providing an extraordinary experience for discovering and purchasing last-minute tickets to live events. With platforms available on iOS, Android, mobile web, and desktop, we support events across the US and Canada, reimagining the event ticket experience in a mobile-first world.

Q: What does the Data Engineer role entail at Gametime United?

The Data Engineer position involves supporting and informing various functions throughout the company to solve business-critical issues related to our products and features. You'll develop new ETL processes, deploy new technologies, and manage data pipelines that are reliable and accurate. The job requires cross-functional collaboration across data, product, marketing, finance, and operations teams.

Q: What qualities and experience do you look for in an ideal candidate for the Data Engineer position?

We seek candidates with 1-3+ years of Data Engineering experience, proficiency in SQL, and experience with a programming language like Python. The ideal candidate should exhibit strong problem-solving skills, a good understanding of database concepts, and collaboration abilities. Experience with data visualization software and analyzing user-centric products in the gaming or marketplace industries is a plus.

Q: What benefits does Gametime United offer to Data Engineers?

Gametime United provides a range of benefits including flexible PTO, medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, disability benefits, 401K, HSA, pre-tax savings programs, new equipment setup, wellness programs, and tenure recognition.

Q: How can I prepare for an interview at Gametime United?

To prepare for an interview at Gametime United, research the company thoroughly, review your technical skills, and practice common interview questions using Interview Query. Be ready to discuss your past experiences and demonstrate how they relate to the Data Engineer position you are applying for.

Embark on a journey with Gametime United, where we redefine live experiences and bridge social divides through extraordinary last-minute ticket solutions. As a Data Engineer, you'll play a pivotal role in driving our mission by developing fast, reliable, and accurate data pipelines, supporting various teams, and crafting innovative ETL processes. Join us in a dynamic environment that values inclusion, continuous learning, and collaboration.

For a deeper dive into what it takes to succeed at Gametime United, explore our Gametime United Interview Guide. Interview Query is your ultimate resource to unlock insightful interview tips, build confidence, and navigate the process smoothly. Check out our company interview guides for more preparation strategies. If you have any questions, we’re here to help.

Good luck with your interview!