Newsela is a fast-growing edtech company with a mission to make reading engaging for students and educators alike. Founded in 2013, Newsela specializes in publishing high-quality, adaptive educational content. The company has positively impacted classrooms across the nation by providing leveled readings of current events, articles, and primary sources.

As a Data Engineer at Newsela, you'll play a crucial role in building and maintaining data pipelines, optimizing data storage, and ensuring the reliability of data systems. The position demands a solid foundation in SQL, ETL processes, and proficiency in languages like Python or Scala. You’ll collaborate closely with data scientists and analysts to support data-driven decision-making across the organization.

In this guide, brought to you by Interview Query, we will walk you through the interview process, share insights into commonly asked questions, and offer valuable preparation tips. Let's dive in!

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Newsela as a Data Engineer. Whether you were contacted by a Newsela recruiter 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 Newsela 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 Newsela Data Engineer 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 Newsela 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 Newsela’s data systems, ETL pipelines, and SQL queries.

In the case of data engineer roles, take-home assignments regarding real-world problem-solving related to data engineering may also be incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency against programming, data architecture, and scripting capabilities 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 Newsela office. Your technical prowess, including programming and data pipeline 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 Newsela.

Quick Tips For Newsela 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 Newsela interview include:

• Know The Data Systems: Newsela questions are likely to focus on their data architecture, ETL pipelines, and data analysis. Understand Newsela’s data systems and how you would contribute to or improve them.
• Be Technically Proficient: Newsela’s data engineering interviews assess how well you can manage and manipulate data. Brush up on your knowledge of ETL processes, SQL queries, and programming languages like Python or Java.
• Embody the Culture: Newsela values innovation, collaboration, and a passion for education. Practice responding to behavioral questions with answers that reflect these core values.

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

• 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 company selling B2B analytics dashboards, what metrics would you use to evaluate the value of each marketing channel?

• How would you measure the success of the banner ad strategy? An online media company wants to experiment with adding web banners into the middle of its reading content to monetize web traffic. How would you measure the success of this banner ad strategy?

• How would you analyze the performance of a new feature without A/B testing? LinkedIn has launched a new feature allowing candidates to message hiring managers directly during the interview process but cannot A/B test it due to engineering constraints. How would you analyze the feature's performance?

• How would you measure the health of the Mentions app and attribute engagement increases? Facebook is rolling out a new feature called "Mentions" for celebrities to connect with their fans. How would you measure the health of the Mentions app, and how would you attribute increases in fan engagement to the app versus a celebrity's desire to engage more?

• What would you investigate to diagnose changes in weekly active users and email open rates? A product manager reports that the weekly active users metric is up 5%, but email notification open rates are down 2%. What would you investigate to diagnose what is happening?

• Write a function pick_host to determine the optimal friend to host a party based on location. Given a group of (N) friends represented by a list of dictionaries where each value is a friend's name and their location on a three-dimensional scale ((x, y, z)), write a function pick_host to return the friend that should host the party. The goal is to minimize the total travel distance for the group.

• How would you evaluate whether using a decision tree algorithm is the correct model for predicting loan repayment? You are tasked with building a decision tree model to predict if a borrower will pay back a personal loan. How would you evaluate if a decision tree is the right choice? How would you evaluate the model's performance before and after deployment?

• How would you determine if a new delivery time estimate model is better than the old one? You want to build a new delivery time estimate model for food delivery. How would you compare its predictions to the old model to determine which is better?

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

• What are the benefits of dynamic pricing, and how can you estimate supply and demand? Explain the benefits of dynamic pricing. How would you estimate supply and demand in this context?

• How would you design a machine learning model to classify major health issues? You work for a health insurance company. Design a machine learning model that classifies if an individual will undergo major health issues based on a set of health features.

• What is an unbiased estimator and can you provide an example for a layman to understand? Explain what an unbiased estimator is in simple terms and provide an easy-to-understand example.

• What are the benefits of dynamic pricing, and how can you estimate supply and demand in this context? Describe the advantages of dynamic pricing and explain how to estimate supply and demand when using this pricing strategy.

• How would you design a machine learning model to predict major health issues? As a machine learning engineer for a health insurance company, design a model that classifies individuals based on health features to predict if they will undergo major health issues.

What is the average salary for a Data Engineer at Newsela?

Q: What is the interview process for a Data Engineer position at Newsela like?

A: Newsela’s interview process generally includes a phone screen, a technical interview, and an onsite interview. The process is designed to assess your technical expertise, problem-solving skills, and cultural alignment with the company.

Q: What skills are necessary for a Data Engineer role at Newsela?

A: Essential skills for a Data Engineer at Newsela include proficiency in SQL, ETL processes, data warehousing, and experience with cloud platforms like AWS. Strong problem-solving abilities and effective communication skills are also crucial.

Q: What can I expect in the technical interview for a Data Engineer position at Newsela?

A: During the technical interview, you can expect questions that test your SQL knowledge, data modeling capabilities, and coding skills. You might also encounter practical challenges that involve real-world data engineering tasks.

Q: What is the company culture like at Newsela?

A: Newsela fosters a collaborative and inclusive team environment that values continuous learning and innovation. The company is committed to creating educational content that is accessible and engaging for all learners.

Q: How can I best prepare for an interview at Newsela?

A: To prepare for an interview at Newsela, research the company’s mission and products, review your technical skills, and practice common interview questions using resources like Interview Query. Focus on demonstrating how your experience aligns with Newsela’s needs and goals.

If you're gearing up for a Data Engineer interview at Newsela, you're in the right place to get prepared and ace it. Check out our main Newsela Interview Guide, where you'll find a plethora of potential interview questions and comprehensive insights about the company. Additionally, we've crafted interview guides for other roles including software engineer and data analyst that delve into Newsela’s interview process for various positions.

At Interview Query, we equip you with a cutting-edge toolkit designed to enhance your interview skills by providing you with critical knowledge, confidence, and strategic advice. This ensures you're fully prepared to tackle every challenge and question that comes your way during a Newsela interview.

Be sure to explore all our company interview guides for added preparation. If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to contact us.

Good luck with your interview!