1 min lesson
Self-scoring rubric & gap plan
Use "Treat the rubric as a gap finder, not a score to admire" to describe the practical rule.
Step 1 of 3
Prep without a scorecard drifts toward whatever's comfortable. Score each loop stage 1-5 against what it actually tests, map every weak score to a deep-dive module, then build a final-week plan that attacks one gap per day and ends in a full dry-run.
Treat the rubric as a gap finder, not a score to admire. Mark the weakest proof, turn it into one practice rep and keep the artifact you would show an interviewer.
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Full explanation
The Loop at a Glance
Interactive diagram. Step through it with the Next and Previous controls below, or Tab to a region to read its detail.
Step each stage; the score table below maps one-to-one to these nodes.
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Advanced table
Score each stage against what it tests
Score each stage against what it testsBe honest - a 3 you can defend beats a hopeful 5
- Stage
- Recruiter / HM screen
- What it tests
- Why-Cursor motivation
- Your 1-5
- __
- Stage
- Technical phone screen
- What it tests
- Live SQL/Python, AI muted
- Your 1-5
- __
- Stage
- Take-home / practical
- What it tests
- Pipeline slice + README
- Your 1-5
- __
- Stage
- Onsite project day
- What it tests
- Product sense, shipping speed
- Your 1-5
- __
- Stage
- System-design deep dive
- What it tests
- Ingestion → serving, end to end
- Your 1-5
- __
- Stage
- Values / why-Cursor round
- What it tests
- Ownership, intensity
- Your 1-5
- __
| Stage | What it tests | Your 1-5 |
|---|---|---|
| Recruiter / HM screen | Why-Cursor motivation | __ |
| Technical phone screen | Live SQL/Python, AI muted | __ |
| Take-home / practical | Pipeline slice + README | __ |
| Onsite project day | Product sense, shipping speed | __ |
| System-design deep dive | Ingestion → serving, end to end | __ |
| Values / why-Cursor round | Ownership, intensity | __ |
Score before you study - the lowest numbers set your week.
Map weak scores to the deep divesEach gap has a home
- Lakehouse / ingestion
- Re-drill Delta/medallion, partitioning/compaction/Z-order, delivery semantics, dead-letter + replay
- Orchestration
- Dagster software-defined assets, partitions, sensors/schedules, backfills, multi-tenant scaling
- Observability / cost / security
- Freshness/volume/distribution checks, SLAs/SLOs, Unity Catalog RBACRole-Based Access Control. Granting permissions by role rather than configuring each person individually. Press Enter for the full definition./ABAC, PIIPersonally Identifiable Information. Data that can identify a person (names, emails, SSNs); regulated and sensitive. Press Enter for the full definition. masking, cost attribution
- Live coding
- The SQL/Python drills in this module, AI muted, timed, narrated
- Behavioral
- The five quantified stories and the 60-second why-Cursor
The readiness barTwo pass/fail questions
End-to-end, on a whiteboard, in ~50 minutes.
With scale math, named failure modes and a cost + PIIPersonally Identifiable Information. Data that can identify a person (names, emails, SSNs); regulated and sensitive. Press Enter for the full definition. boundary you volunteer unprompted.
Bronze → silver → gold with one quality check, in a fixed timebox.
Idempotency proven by a live re-run, plus an honest what-I'd-do-next README.
Confirm logistics with your recruiterCheap certainty
- Exact stage order and how many technical screens to expect.
- The AI-tool policy per round - confirm whether the first screen is autocomplete-only.
- Onsite location (NY or SF), format and that it's a paid build day.
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Full explanation
A final-week plan
A final-week planOne weak area a day, then a full dry-run
- 1Mon-Wed. One lowest-scoring deep dive per day: re-read it, then do a timed drill or a 50-minute design rep on that exact gap.
- 2Thu. Behavioral day - record the five stories and the why-Cursor, grade for specificity and ownership, re-record the weakest.
- 3Fri. Full mock loop dry-run end to end: a no-AI coding rep, a 50-minute design, a scoped build and the values round, scored against this rubric.
- 4Weekend. Light review of flashcards only; rest beats cramming the night before intensity is being measured.
The rubric isn't decoration - it converts a vague “am I ready?” into a ranked list of drills. Re-score after the Friday dry-run; if every stage clears a 4 and you can answer both readiness questions yes, you're ready. If one stage still sits at a 2, that's the only thing left to work, so work exactly that.
QWhat are the two pass/fail readiness questions for this loop and why are they the right bar?