Aced (formerly Exponent) offers a Databricks interview guide updated October 2026, with one Forward Deployed Engineer guide, 42 interview questions, and 13 candidate experiences. Candidates describe the FDE loop as Palantir-style: the decomp round is vague, and jumping into architecture without clarifying stakeholders and KPIs fails. PM candidates get a week for a PRD assignment. Engineering Manager candidates report system design is the round where most candidates stumble.

Key points

• Includes 1 FDE guide, 42 questions, 13 candidate experiences.
• FDE loop described as Palantir-style.
• Decomp round requires clarifying stakeholders and KPIs first.
• PM candidates complete a PRD assignment within one week.
• System design round is where most candidates fail.

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