One of the main reasons Cribl was created was to make it easier for any organization to use observability effectively. By providing customers with greater visibility and control, while maximizing the value of their existing tools. We’re challenging the status quo when it comes to observability and security data. We’re laser-focused on solving customer problems before we do anything else. To be honest, this is where you should be to do your best work, push yourself, and change the way businesses handle their data. It’s like Steve Jobs once said to John Sculley when recruiting him to Apple.
We’re aiming to change the world, so we’re looking for the best engineers in the world. In the past year, we’ve made some changes to our interview process that let people who want to work for us interact directly with our team and show off more of their skills, all without having to spend a lot of time on it.
In the past, we gave our candidates take-home tests or interview kits to work on, which were similar to the way engineers usually do whiteboard interviews. It turns out they’re not only time-consuming, but can also lead to biases. As soon as you start interviewing someone after reading their take-home, you start to focus on their weaknesses instead of their strengths.
People with this kind of confirmation bias make it hard to find the most important trait we want in candidates: the ability to solve problems in creative ways. With take-home exams, it’s easy to find people who meet all the requirements for a typical engineer. However, you might miss the really talented people along the way because the process doesn’t focus on their strengths.
Landing a job at Cribl, the rising star in data observability, is a coveted opportunity for any tech professional With its innovative LogStream platform, Cribl has carved out a unique niche empowering organizations to unlock the value of their data.
However, Cribl’s interview process is notoriously rigorous. You can expect challenging technical and behavioral questions aimed at evaluating your problem-solving abilities, communication skills, and ability to contribute to Cribl’s mission
Thorough preparation is key to standing out amongst the competition. To help you get interview-ready, I’ve compiled the 10 most common Cribl interview questions and provided tips on how to craft winning responses:
1. Walk me through a complex software system you’ve worked on. What were the key components and how did they interact?
Cribl wants to know that you can handle intricate technical projects. When answering, pick a specific complex system you have worked on and explain:
- The problem it solved
- Key components like databases, servers, APIs
- How you chose the right technologies
- How the components interacted and any challenges faced
- Your contributions and impact on the overall project
Keep it clear and avoid excessive jargon. Outline your thought process and showcase your problem-solving abilities.
2. How have you designed an architecture that successfully handled scaling challenges?
This evaluates your ability to build future-proof, scalable systems. Discuss:
- Initial requirements and technologies chosen
- How you planned for future growth e.g. load balancing, database sharding
- How the system scaled and challenges faced
- Lessons learned and how you applied them
Demonstrate foresight, adaptability and technical versatility in designing solutions optimized for both current and future needs.
3. Share your experience with API design. How do you ensure APIs are scalable and user-friendly?
Highlight specific examples of your API design approach that balance robustness and ease of use. Discuss:
- Gathering user feedback
- Keeping documentation updated
- Implementing version control
- Planning for future growth e.g. modular design
- Adhering to best practices like REST
4. How would you secure authentication for a web app with sensitive user data?
This tests your knowledge of security best practices and awareness of potential threats. Discuss:
- Encrypted connections (HTTPS, SSL/TLS)
- Hashed and salted password storage
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Secure protocols for password resets/account recovery
- Regular security audits and monitoring
- Educating users on strong passwords
Show you can design secure systems adaptable to evolving threats.
5. Tell me about a time you successfully led a cross-functional team under tight deadlines.
Prove your leadership, strategic planning and conflict resolution skills. Explain:
- The project objectives, team composition and deadline
- Your approach to delegating tasks and balancing priorities
- How you kept the team focused and handled conflicts
- The outcome and how your management style drove success
6. When introducing new tech/processes to a team, how did you ensure buy-in?
Demonstrate your change management abilities. Discuss:
- Evaluating team needs and readiness first
- Communicating benefits and providing training
- Encouraging feedback to foster collaboration
- Tailoring approach to different team dynamics
- Guiding teams through transitions smoothly
7. Explain how you’d refactor a legacy system while maintaining uptime.
Showcase your technical skills and strategic planning. Share how you would:
- Assess the codebase to identify high-risk areas
- Prioritize refactoring tasks starting with quick wins
- Rigorously test changes to prevent downtime
- Maintain open communication with stakeholders
- Have a rollback plan ready for any issues
8. How do you troubleshoot critical production issues?
Prove your capability to respond quickly and effectively. Outline:
- The specific production issue
- Steps taken to resolve it
- Tools and methodologies used
- How you communicated with team/stakeholders
- Impact on production environment
- Lessons that improved future prevention
9. How have you managed competing stakeholder needs in a project?
Demonstrate your ability to synthesize perspectives into a plan. Discuss:
- Your approach to gathering and documenting requirements
- Prioritizing based on value, cost and time constraints
- Facilitating compromise
- Ongoing communication to manage expectations
- Tracking progress to meet all needs
10. Why do you want to work at Cribl specifically?
Close your interview by expressing genuine interest in Cribl. Research their culture and mission. Share:
- What excites you about their product and innovation in the market
- How your skills would contribute to their goals
- Alignment between your values and their culture
- Long-term career goals that Cribl can help fulfill
With thorough preparation using these top 10 questions, you’ll highlight the technical capabilities, problem-solving skills and strategic thinking that can bring value to Cribl. Follow this guide, and you’ll walk into your Cribl interview ready to impress. Best of luck!
Engineering is a Team Sport
The way we interview engineers had to reflect the fact that they work together, which was important to us. We want to hire the smartest and most skilled people, but a team can’t succeed if its members can’t work together. That’s why we built the ability to work with others into the interview process.
That’s why the first step involves pairing each candidate with one of our more senior engineers. They work together on a project with clear feature needs and real bugs instead of just asking about different skills. This changes the tone of the talk from “them vs. us” to “how can we solve this together?” We don’t only look at what a person can do on their own; we also work with them to figure out how we can do things together.
The pair programming environment lets us know if someone fits in with our culture and shows us how they came up with their ideas. This helps us determine if someone can be trained further in the way we solve customers’ problems. People who give wrong answers don’t always mean they can’t do the job; applicants who know how to solve problems and are willing to learn should also be considered.
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