During a previous internship, I was given a seemingly straightforward task, migrating new customer data into our databases and warehouses. However, I quickly found myself struggling and juggling between different people to figure out the source of a particular dataset. I questioned whether certain data was necessary or in what format it had to be processed and stored.
Even though the data scale was small, I questioned: How do large organizations manage data at such massive scales? Who is helping them?
Searching for these answers led me to Atlan. Inspired by the product and Atlan’s mission of helping the humans of data—I decided to apply to Atlan’s engineering internship.
I am excited to share my learnings from the Atlan interview process and first in-person Intern Bootcamp in hopes of motivating future Atlan interns to apply and feel prepared throughout the internship process.
From Online Assessments to the Final Call: Navigating the Atlan Internship Interview
Before I go into more detail, my biggest takeaway from the interview process is to be honest with yourself and your abilities. While every candidate has their own way of approaching interviews, I’ll dive into my specific experiences so that whoever is reading can find insight into how Atlan planned to hire this time.
After my resume was shortlisted, I was asked to complete an online assessment which consisted of two questions to be completed in 90 minutes. From my experiences with online assessments at other companies, I expected a strong focus on data structures and algorithms but Atlan’s assessment also had a touch of computer organization topics.
The next round was task-based with a 3-day deadline focused on building a full-stack mobile application or web app. The deliverables were pretty detailed:
- an extensive database schema diagram,Â
- a complete codebase covering both the backend and frontend
- A scalable backend capable of handling 1 million requests per minute
- a video explaining my decisions and giving a quick walkthrough
My approach was split between the three days I had. On day one, I started with the database design, trying to keep it as detailed as possible, not missing any single column. After wrapping that up, I spent some time planning out both the frontend and backend. By the end of the first day, I had started coding a small part of the backend.
Day two was entirely dedicated to the backend. I prioritized scalability, implementing Docker and Kubernetes for containerization and orchestration.
On the final day, I moved on to the frontend. I knew using React or Next.js would’ve been faster, but creativity has never been my strong suit. Despite my parents’ best efforts to make me creative as a kid, enrolling me in dance classes, calligraphy, and whatnot, I’ve always struggled with it. So, I stuck to the basics, focusing on my abilities and strengths: Bootstrap, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for integrating the backend APIs.
After finishing the code in 3 days, I recorded a 10-minute explanation video on the morning of the 4th day. It took more than 15 retries, and then I submitted my complete task solution.
The final round after the assignment was a technical interview with a senior developer. While I didn’t find the interview particularly difficult, I still got nervous with a small DSA question right at the start. Thankfully, the interviewer was super comforting and helped me ease into it. Once I gained confidence, I breezed through the rest of the questions, which were mostly focused on DSA, Python, and Golang concepts.
The final round was a conversational cultural fit interview with a Director, involving questions about my past work, my most impactful projects, and discussions around Atlan’s goals. While it was less technical, I remember feeling unsure of myself compared to the technical interview.
Then came the call. Atlan wanted to offer me the role! I couldn’t contain my excitement. As I reflect on my interview experience, I want to reiterate believing in yourself and leaning on your strengths throughout the process.
With the congratulatory email, I was invited to a 4-day boot camp, and this is where the real adventure begins.
Inside Atlan’s Boot Camp: A Journey of Collaboration and Growth
The boot camp was truly an experience like no other. For future interns, I’ll share a detailed day-by-day breakdown with problems they might tackle and the experiences to expect. However, before diving into specifics, I’d like to start by sharing some key takeaways.
First, expect an intense yet incredibly rewarding onboarding process. It’s packed with hands-on sessions, interactive discussions, and plenty of opportunities for collaboration. It’s challenging, but also a lot of fun, and you’ll learn so much along the way.
Second, the culture is wonderfully approachable. Everyone—from the founders to fellow interns—is open and accessible. The hierarchy is minimal, and feedback is not just welcomed but actively encouraged. So share ideas and ask for help.
Third, Atlan places more value on your skills and enthusiasm than your prior experience. If you’re passionate and willing to learn, you’ll thrive here regardless of your background.
Lastly, collaboration is a constant at Atlan. You’ll work across teams and seniority levels to solve unique and challenging problems. Whether it’s brainstorming, coding, testing, or deploying, you’ll be involved in every step of the process. This collaborative atmosphere is something to fully embrace and take advantage of.
With those takeaways in mind, I’ll now dive into the specifics of the coding experiences and challenges I encountered during the boot camp. For those interested in the details, read on!
From Virtual Hellos to Hands-on Problem Solving
A day before the flight, we had an online meeting with other interns and the onboarding team to know a bit about each other before we meet or for some questions. During the introductions, what really stood out to me was the diversity. People from all different universities, colleges, skillsets, and backgrounds were part of the cohort.
Day 1 began the next day. It started out a little slow with the usual stuff, context about Atlan’s history, goals, culture, and their massive customer base. But honestly, it answered so many of my questions that inspired me to discover Atlan in the first place: “Who’s helping these big organizations?” and “Why an in-person onboarding?” Turns out, this was their way of helping us connect more deeply and understand Atlan’s culture and architecture pretty well. By the time the sessions were over, it all made sense.
During lunch, I really felt like part of the Atlan team. Interns weren’t just focusing on food but were sitting with the onboarding team, chatting and discussing like we had been at Atlan forever.
The latter half of the day was a session on SQL first then Kubernetes. SQL was great for understanding how much Atlan relies on it, but Kubernetes was where things got really interesting. We got to deploy our own apps on Atlan’s servers. The best part? There was an outdated command in the Kubernetes setup. Instead of chaos, the whole room including interns jumped in to figure it out and the interns were able to crack the issue first.
Code, Chats, and Never-Ending Snacks
Day 2 officially begins, starting with a video call with Atlan’s Co-founder, Varun.
Varun interacted with each of us, asking for introductions, and then opened the floor for questions. I finally asked the burning question I forgot to ask earlier in my interview process: Why shut down SocialCops when it was profitable? SocialCops was the Atlan’s founders’ previous venture before starting Atlan.
His answer hit me hard: Sometimes, when you’re passionate about building something new, you have to let go of things, even if they’re close to you. It was a brief answer, but it held so much depth. It got me thinking about the risks and sacrifices that come with pursuing something you truly believe in.
The next session was on the Atlan SDK, diving into in-depth theoretical concepts like lineage, followed by a code walkthrough showing different ways to implement CRUD operations.
After that, we got to what I think was the highlight of the boot camp, something totally different from a typical onboarding process. We were introduced to an imaginary customer and briefed on their biography and needs. Then the fun began: we were presented with their problem, and the entire team got together to brainstorm the best possible solution based on our learnings from just the previous session.
Ideas were flying everywhere, with both interns and full-timers involved, as we iterated on features, removed unnecessary ones, and refined our approach on the whiteboard. The discussion lasted a solid 30 to 45 minutes until everyone in the room was on the same page with a well-thought-out, discussed solution.
By the end of only Day 2, things had become so comfortable between the interns and the onboarding team that we’d started requesting the hotel staff to join 4-5 tables together so the entire team could sit together for dinner. It felt like one of those scenes from old movies where everyone gathers around a long table, except here, there was no hierarchy, just a team enjoying great food and even better conversations.
Deployment with a Twist of Debugging
Day 3 was a combination of theoretical deep dives, code-based exercises, and more team bonding. We kicked off with an introduction to Git. Then, we were asked to submit PRs for the solution we built on Day 2, along with a quick briefing on the engineering team structure at Atlan. Once that was done, we moved on to deploying our solution on Atlan’s future architecture.
In the afternoon, we had a session on testing, its types, and how Atlan implements testing, and even got some hands-on experience fixing test cases.
After lunch, we had another hands-on session to write our own tests for the initial solution we’d built for the customer. It was eye-opening to see how Atlan’s process slowly rolls out a fully built solution step by step, starting from brainstorming, deployment and now testing.
Big Ideas, Bigger Whiteboards
Day 4 began with a discussion on the best solution submitted by an intern for the customer problem. This was followed by a session on building custom solutions specifically tailored for individual customer needs, separate from the standard offerings.
By now, I figured out that whenever there’s an interesting session, there is always a hands-on component, and today was no exception. Our imaginary customer came back with a new problem, and the brainstorming session kicked off again. The whiteboard was filled with ideas, and this time, all the interns aligned on the same final draft for the best solution. It felt like a collective win, almost like a personal achievement for all of us!
Coding continued but was briefly paused for a session on frontend support for these custom solutions and how easily they can be extended to the front end.
Later in the evening, things got even more exciting. There was an issue in one of Atlan’s libraries which we were using for our hands-on experience caused by broken imports, and the entire room jumped in to solve it.
While all the interns were busy cross-checking and piecing things together through the version history of the repository, a Senior Software Engineer from the onboarding team who had been with us since Day 1, stepped in. With calm confidence, he removed all the broken imports and fixed the bug in minutes, living up to the superpower he’d mentioned in our initial meeting: “I can debug anything.” Crazy, right?
Throughout the boot camp, meal times, whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner, became more than just breaks. They turned into spaces for dynamic discussions, where we shared not only technical insights but also personal stories, creating a bond that made the experience even more special.
Heading into the final day, I knew this experience was something that I’ll remember forever, and the last day was shaping up to be the perfect closing chapter to it all.
Wrapping Up with Wins and Warm Goodbyes
Finally, Day 5 of boot camp. The day started with a quick exercise to help us understand how unconscious bias can affect the working environment. It was an eye-opener and set a thoughtful tone for the morning.
Next, we had the much-anticipated “Lightning Talks” competition, where we had to present one of our special projects. The prize? A pair of JBL headphones. This session really highlighted the insane talent pool among the interns that I’ve mentioned earlier. The projects ranged from a tool that lets you control IoT devices in your room by simply looking at a camera, to contributions in major repositories.
The winners were decided by voting from all the interns. The top 3 projects were absolutely mind-blowing.
To future interns reading this for inspiration, my one tip would be: be honest with yourself throughout the recruitment process. It goes a long way in making the journey truly worthwhile.
Whether you’re just starting your career or bringing years of experience, Atlan offers the perfect environment to grow. The challenges are exciting, the learning never stops, and the supportive culture ensures both individuals and teams thrive. There’s no shortage of opportunities to leave your mark and be part of something bigger.
If you’re looking for a place to grow, innovate, and join a team that’s shaping the future of the data journey, Atlan is the place for you.
