GoPro, a leader in action camera technology, offers dynamic and innovative work experiences for its employees. As part of the Data Science Engineering (DSE) team, Software Engineers play a pivotal role in managing the vast amounts of data generated by GoPro’s ecosystem, including cameras, applications, cloud services, and web applications. The position involves designing, developing, and maintaining scalable data pipelines and platforms, leveraging state-of-the-art technologies in the Big Data space.

This Interview Query guide will help you decode the interview process for Software Engineer roles at GoPro, giving you insights into potential questions, required skills, and how best to prepare. Let’s dive in!

Submitting Your Application

The initial step involves submitting a compelling application that highlights your technical skills and passion for joining GoPro as a Software Engineer. Whether approached by a GoPro recruiter or taking the initiative, be sure to thoroughly review the job description and tailor your resume to meet the necessary prerequisites.

Tailoring your resume can include identifying specific keywords that hiring managers use to filter resumes and crafting a customized cover letter. Don’t forget to emphasize your relevant skills and past work experiences.

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your resume makes it to the shortlist, you will be contacted by a recruiter from GoPro's Talent Acquisition Team. They'll verify essential details like your experience and skill level, and behavioral questions might also be included in the screening process.

In some instances, the GoPro Software Engineer hiring manager may also attend the screening round to answer your questions about the role and the company itself, potentially diving into preliminary technical and behavioral discussions.

The entire recruiter call typically lasts around 30 minutes.

Technical Virtual Interview

Passing the initial recruiter call leads to an invitation for a technical screening round, usually conducted virtually via video conference and screen sharing. The questions during this 1-hour interview might cover GoPro’s data systems, ETL pipelines, and your knowledge of SQL.

For software engineering roles, you might receive take-home assignments or coding tests relevant to data engineering, cloud services, or big data technologies like Hive, Spark, or Databricks.

Onsite Interview Rounds

After another recruiter call discussing the next steps, you'll be invited to participate in the onsite interview loop. Multiple interview rounds will be held during your time at the GoPro office (or virtually for remote positions), each assessing different facets of your technical skills, including programming and big data modeling capabilities.

If you were given take-home assignments, a presentation round might also be part of the onsite interview for the Software Engineer role at GoPro.

Quick Tips For GoPro Software 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 GoPro interview include:

• Understand GoPro's Data Ecosystem: Familiarize yourself with the architecture of GoPro’s Big Data Technology stack, including Data Modeling, Data Lakehouse, Data Pipeline, and Data Analytics.
• Emphasize Collaboration and Communication: GoPro values strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical peers. Prepare to discuss how you’ve worked successfully in cross-functional teams.
• Be Prepared for Practical Tests: Given the focus on data engineering, be ready to design and discuss scalable/reliable data pipelines and systems using AWS or other cloud services. Demonstrating practical skills in technologies like Hive, Spark, Databricks, Presto, Kafka, or Airflow will be beneficial.

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

• Write a query to get the average order value by gender. Given three tables representing customer transactions and customer attributes, write a query to get the average order value by gender. Round the answer to two decimal places.

• Write a function missing_number to find the missing number in an array. You have an array of integers, nums of length n spanning 0 to n with one missing. Write a function missing_number that returns the missing number in the array. Complexity of (O(n)) required.

• Find the index where the sum of the left half equals the right half in a list. Given a list of integers, find the index at which the sum of the left half of the list is equal to the right half. If there is no such index, return -1.

• Write a function sorting to sort a list of strings in ascending order. Given a list of strings, write a function sorting from scratch to sort the list in ascending alphabetical order. Do not use the built-in sorted function. Return the new sorted list.

• Write a query to find the earliest date each user played their third unique song. Given a table of song_plays and a table of users, write a query to extract the earliest date each user played their third unique song. If a user has listened to less than three unique songs, display their name with a NULL date and song name.

• How would you build a model to predict which merchants DoorDash should acquire in a new market? As a data scientist at DoorDash, describe the steps and features you would use to build a predictive model to identify which merchants the company should target for acquisition when entering a new market.

• How would you determine the customer service quality through the chat box for small businesses on Facebook Marketplace? Working at Facebook, your team aims to help small businesses increase sales through the Marketplace app. Explain how you would assess the quality of customer service provided through chat interactions between small businesses and consumers.

• What business health metrics would you track on a dashboard for an e-commerce D2C sock business? If you are in charge of an e-commerce D2C business selling socks, list and explain the key business health metrics you would monitor on a company dashboard to ensure the business's success.

• Write a query to determine if user interactions (likes, comments) lead to higher purchasing volumes. Given three tables (users, transactions, and events), write a SQL query to analyze whether users who interact on the website (e.g., likes, comments) have a higher purchasing volume compared to those who do not interact.

• How does random forest generate the forest and why use it over logistic regression? Explain the process of generating a forest in a random forest algorithm and discuss the advantages of using random forest over logistic regression.

• How do we deal with missing square footage data to construct a housing price model? You have 100K sold listings over the past three years for Seattle, but 20% are missing square footage data. Describe methods to handle the missing data to build an accurate housing price prediction model.

• How would you build a model to predict which merchants DoorDash should acquire in a new market? As a data scientist at DoorDash, outline the steps to create a model that predicts which merchants the company should target for acquisition when entering a new market.

• How do you detect and handle correlation between variables in linear regression? Describe methods to detect and manage correlation between variables in a linear regression model. Explain the consequences of ignoring such correlations in the model.

• How would you design a model to detect potential bombs at a border crossing? Outline the design of a model to detect potential bombs at a border crossing, including the selection of inputs and outputs, methods to measure accuracy, and strategies to test the model.

• How many more samples are needed to decrease the margin of error from 3 to 0.3? Given a sample size (n) with a margin of error of 3, calculate the additional samples required to reduce the margin of error to 0.3.

• What is the mean and variance of the distribution of (2X - Y)? Given (X) and (Y) are independent random variables with normal distributions (X \sim \mathcal{N}(3, 4)) and (Y \sim \mathcal{N}(1, 4)), determine the mean and variance of (2X - Y).

• How do you calculate the sample size and power for an AB test? For an AB test with a test group and a control group:

• Explain how to calculate the necessary sample size for accurate measurement.
• If the sample size is sufficient, should the power increase or decrease to measure very small differences between the groups?

What is the average salary for a Software Engineer at Gopro?

Q: What does the Data Science Engineering (DSE) team at GoPro do?

A: The DSE team at GoPro is responsible for our in-house data platform infrastructure, data engineering, automated data analytics reporting, and ML Ops platform. They enable and empower different business units by providing infrastructure, tools, services, and visualizations to access data and business reports. They also prepare data and metrics to support data scientists and business operations.

Q: What skills are required for a Software Engineer in the Big Data team at GoPro?

A: Strong software development experience in Scala or Java, experience designing and building scalable/reliable data pipelines using the Big Data ecosystem, and proficiency in cloud services like AWS. Knowledge of Machine Learning Model Operationalization (MLOps) is a plus. Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and collaboration skills are also essential.

Q: What will be my key responsibilities as a Software Engineer at GoPro?

A: You'll be responsible for understanding business requirements, designing data models, building quality datasets, and creating and maintaining data pipelines. You’ll also lead design, implementation, and operation of data platforms and tools, as well as create documentation and visualizations to validate datasets.

Q: What is the culture like at GoPro for Software Engineers?

A: GoPro promotes a culture of autonomy, flexibility, and innovation. Employees are encouraged to use the latest technologies to provide the best solutions, and the company celebrates creative solutions and innovations. GoPro also supports employee wellbeing through remote work options, generous time-off policies, and various wellness programs.

Q: How can I prepare for an interview at GoPro?

A: To prepare for an interview at GoPro, research the company thoroughly, practice common interview questions, and review your technical skills relevant to Big Data. Sites like Interview Query can be very helpful in practicing and honing your skills.

Considering a software engineering position at GoPro offers an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of big data technology, supporting a variety of business needs within its innovative ecosystem. The roles emphasize a balanced approach to autonomy and collaboration, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and promoting a flexible work environment.

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main GoPro Interview Guide, where we have covered many interview questions that could be asked. We've also created interview guides for other roles, such as software engineer and data analyst, where you can learn more about GoPro’s interview process for different positions.

At Interview Query, we empower you to unlock your interview prowess with a comprehensive toolkit, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence, and strategic guidance to conquer every GoPro software engineering interview question and challenge.

You can check out all our company interview guides for better preparation, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Good luck with your interview!