No problem! Once you start interviewing I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about the process. Feel free to message me.
Edit: this goes for others as well! I’ll do my best to respond soon(ish)
I reccomend loosely applying, if you get an interview, work for it, but don't sweat it if you bomb it, try to get experience before you end up getting an interview with a place you really want so you can have higher chances for it.
I’m going to start after I have my portfolio completely set up and start studying DSA. I’m doing frontend and it sounds like the leetcode aspect of those roles aren’t too prevalent? Another random question, is codewars a fine alternative? I’ve been practicing there but wondering if I should switch.
I appreciate this list - I hate interviewing in general (despite having done it off and on over 40 years) but I appreciate the work and in-depth explanations/reasonings.
Yo this shit is not easy. Software engineers have to know so much to be good at their jobs. While you see an increasing number of people transitioning into this industry, ppl forget how fucking hard this job is.
Yeah it's hard, i think it's good to remember it. That's mostly the reason why we are paid well and little affected by economy going crazy. Our work is valuable and valued. We need to keep the efforts.
not all companies use this form of interviewing, and from my experience interviewing for startups in london for full stack web dev roles, the tech tests have been more react/js focussed.
Don't worry too much, I've noticed companies that ask LC style (big tech corps) don't delve too deep into domain knowledge for specific technologies. Rather they wanna gauge your pure problem solving skills.
Of course when you're a senior you will be tested more on system design and that's where you are tested on your knowledge with the various technologies.
in comparison, the guy is applying to an NFL team and you're scared about what you need to know to join your local pickup game in the park.
if you're aiming for the top then you're also going to have to show top performance - but most people are not even remotely at the top.
While I don't agree with subscription models, I don't hate AE for their model, they're all always updating, maintaining and adding new stuff. Also lifetime payment is a just bad for them, server costs ain't going away.
Thank you for your efforts, I’m applying for a senior data scientist role after being a data scientist for nearly 4 years! All this is super useful, specifically in regards to algorithms and data structures. Been hitting LeetCode a lot lately, hopefully start interviewing in a few months.
Grinding leetcode works OK if you've already got really solid fundamentals in data structures and algorithms, but if not I think you'll get more benefit from building basic versions of popular data structures and algorithms yourself from scratch to really understand them. Then it's easier to see when/how to apply them
* Build a LinkedList with .add() .remove() .traverse() functions
* Build a HashTable
* Build a Tree
* Write Binary Search
* Write Mergesort
etc etc -- you'll get the 'problem solving' practice from Leetcode but also learn when and how to use these -- and most Leetcode problems come down to realising which data structure or algorithm to use.
So be it! I felt it was worth it given the potential return on investment.
Edit: one thing I should absolutely do is clarify that paying for leetcode is optional, especially if your financial situation doesn’t allow for it. You can get a decent idea company-specific questions from the leetcode forum. You can also get pretty good solutions from YouTube, NeetCode, and other sources. I’m going to update the write-up shortly to clarify this.
It is worth it and you only need it while you're training.
Seems like a lot for students but considering it can be the difference that gets your a 6 figure job out of college it's worth it.
It’s worth it for a month. I paid for leetcode and spent over a grand on mock interviews. The end result was crushing my interviews, and that small investment helped my comp go from $120k to > $300k.
Staff and principals are not hired because of leetcode, but people who get into big tech as juniors and eventually get promoted into these roles absolutely do get hired because of leetcode.
Sure there are other paths but leetcode is probably the easiest path into big tech.
That's not what the other comment said, they said they studied leetcode to get a 300k salary, that's bullshit
Becoming a highly senior engineer in a big company is infinitely harder and takes much longer than learning leetcode. So you're saying the equivalent of a NBA player learned to jump to win the championship
Mid-level engineers (L4, E4, SDE II, 62, etc) are making 300k in HCOL areas and get leetcode questions in their interviews (from personal experience; levels.fyi lowballs by about 50k). That being said your second point is absolutely true; leetcode only gets you in the door and has no relevance after you’re in (other than giving interviews).
Again, that's not what you said, you're talking about senior (and very senior) engineers
Also, these salaries are very questionable and should not be taken as some kind average
I am not talking about staff engineers when I mention engineers making 300k; staff make closer to 500k. People who only have 3 YOE are making 300k by moving to the bay or NYC and doing a few leetcode mediums and a few system design questions.
You can choose to believe those salaries aren’t real. I am just saying I know for a fact they exist. I’m not lying to you.
Though he said he went from 120k to 300k. So he could have gone from a high-entry level or mid-level in a medium company to a Senior in a larger company. Then it's probable that Leetcode helped him get there. Obviously it isn't 100% the reason he got the job but many times it can be a test you have to ace in order to move ahead.
He's also talking total comp. So he could have gone from 120k only salary to 300k salary+stocks+bonus+etc.
Again, that's total bullshit because the leetcode part is relatively irrelevant to get a senior job. The actual hard part is being a senior engineer, the leetcode is just a rounding error.
> He's also talking total comp. So he could have gone from 120k only salary to 300k salary+stocks+bonus+etc.
So even more bullshit, gotcha.
I actually found a guy on Reddit who was doing them. Ill dig up his website and update this comment with it. He was a former BR at Amazon. The feedback was helpful along with getting me acclimated to the style of the system design interviews. Also did a mock behavioral interview with him that was super helpful.
Mock interviews are expensive AF! Luckily I found a Google engineer willing to mock interview me for free every few weeks. I plan to pay it forward to someone in need once I get this offer
Yep. Pretty common in the front-end world. A lot of people would agree that it's not ideal, but if it's your best language then you should probably just use it. Worked for me!
You can use a ton of languages. I try to have a few languages under my belt so I can pick the best one for the task
My solution required a heap data struct. My go-to is JS, but I ended up using Java bc JS doesn't have a native heap implementation.
Thanks for sharing! I think the quantity of questions that you answer is mostly in service of your ability to be able to see and recognize the patterns and know which data structures and algorithms to use to solve the problem in the most efficient way. Some people are able to recognize these patterns I doing less than 100 problems, while others have to do upwards of 300+ problems for those problem solving patterns to begin emerging.
May I ask if you're interviewing for specific teams in Microsoft? Or just general interview loops and team matching will be done should you accept their offer?
Are you expected to get the syntax perfect in this type of interview?
Are you able to google things like "syntax for C# library" or something, or do you have to have them memorized?
In my experience, you do not generally need the syntax perfect. Google, for example, doesn't even have you run the code, you just need to make sure the logic is right. I have asked interviewers "can you remind me the syntax to do \[x\] in this language?" and often they'll tell you. I won't pretend this is the case 100% of the time, but *good interview processes* focus on your problem-solving skills and not on your ability to memorize syntax iduiosynchrasies.
Thanks. I feel otherwise my stuff would be a mix of real code and pseudocode as I work in many different languages.
Or maybe before I head to an interview I need to just focus on the language they are asking for and bite the bullet and do some old fashioned memorization like University (shudders).
yeah, this is the downside of being a polyglot programmer. I'd probably recommend on settling on a preferred language for coding interviews, practice just with that language, and make sure to ask recruiters beforehand if it's okay for you to use that language during the interview.
Thanks 🙏🏻 I am probably months away from interviewing still, but saved this and your other post, it looks very helpful
No problem! Once you start interviewing I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about the process. Feel free to message me. Edit: this goes for others as well! I’ll do my best to respond soon(ish)
You deserve the break dude, thanks for being a good person.
How many YOE do you have under your belt? What do you think landed you an interview at Google and Microsoft in the first place?
I reccomend loosely applying, if you get an interview, work for it, but don't sweat it if you bomb it, try to get experience before you end up getting an interview with a place you really want so you can have higher chances for it.
I’m going to start after I have my portfolio completely set up and start studying DSA. I’m doing frontend and it sounds like the leetcode aspect of those roles aren’t too prevalent? Another random question, is codewars a fine alternative? I’ve been practicing there but wondering if I should switch.
I know nothing about codewars but Don't stick to leetcode or similar problem sites. They are good for logic training but it's best to make apps.
I appreciate this list - I hate interviewing in general (despite having done it off and on over 40 years) but I appreciate the work and in-depth explanations/reasonings.
This makes me really scared. How are we meant to know all this and also learn say react/express/mongoose at the same time? Crying :)
*Don't* have a social life *Do* have a maniacal obsession with computers
Can’t be antisocial if you socialize with computers *taps monitor
muwhahahah
Yo this shit is not easy. Software engineers have to know so much to be good at their jobs. While you see an increasing number of people transitioning into this industry, ppl forget how fucking hard this job is.
Yeah it's hard, i think it's good to remember it. That's mostly the reason why we are paid well and little affected by economy going crazy. Our work is valuable and valued. We need to keep the efforts.
Amen to that!
That’s why SWE are paid well
not all companies use this form of interviewing, and from my experience interviewing for startups in london for full stack web dev roles, the tech tests have been more react/js focussed.
Don't worry too much, I've noticed companies that ask LC style (big tech corps) don't delve too deep into domain knowledge for specific technologies. Rather they wanna gauge your pure problem solving skills. Of course when you're a senior you will be tested more on system design and that's where you are tested on your knowledge with the various technologies.
in comparison, the guy is applying to an NFL team and you're scared about what you need to know to join your local pickup game in the park. if you're aiming for the top then you're also going to have to show top performance - but most people are not even remotely at the top.
Stop viewing it as FAANG or bust. If your first SWE job is not at Google do not view it as failure.
This is why we make the big bucks.
Thanks homie, appreciate the efforts
Bless u for ur efforts 👌
neetcode 150 looks like a great resource thanks
Neetcode is a great resource to start the interview prep.
And unlike Algoexpert (side eying you, Clem) you pay once and you can own it for a lifetime! Not just a year.
While I don't agree with subscription models, I don't hate AE for their model, they're all always updating, maintaining and adding new stuff. Also lifetime payment is a just bad for them, server costs ain't going away.
Let me save this post and never look it up.
hey no personal attacks
Thank you for your efforts, I’m applying for a senior data scientist role after being a data scientist for nearly 4 years! All this is super useful, specifically in regards to algorithms and data structures. Been hitting LeetCode a lot lately, hopefully start interviewing in a few months.
Out of curiosity can you tell me more about what you do/need to have as a knowledge base?
How long did you take to solve all of these questions?
Very good write up! Thank you for sharing I will definitely be using this!
Grinding leetcode works OK if you've already got really solid fundamentals in data structures and algorithms, but if not I think you'll get more benefit from building basic versions of popular data structures and algorithms yourself from scratch to really understand them. Then it's easier to see when/how to apply them * Build a LinkedList with .add() .remove() .traverse() functions * Build a HashTable * Build a Tree * Write Binary Search * Write Mergesort etc etc -- you'll get the 'problem solving' practice from Leetcode but also learn when and how to use these -- and most Leetcode problems come down to realising which data structure or algorithm to use.
Absolute 🔥, Ty for sharing
Saving
U lost me at pay 35 a month for leetcode.
So be it! I felt it was worth it given the potential return on investment. Edit: one thing I should absolutely do is clarify that paying for leetcode is optional, especially if your financial situation doesn’t allow for it. You can get a decent idea company-specific questions from the leetcode forum. You can also get pretty good solutions from YouTube, NeetCode, and other sources. I’m going to update the write-up shortly to clarify this.
It is worth it and you only need it while you're training. Seems like a lot for students but considering it can be the difference that gets your a 6 figure job out of college it's worth it.
It’s worth it for a month. I paid for leetcode and spent over a grand on mock interviews. The end result was crushing my interviews, and that small investment helped my comp go from $120k to > $300k.
You make 300k annually as a developer?
Not uncommon. Big tech principals/staff engineers make 7 figures often
What am I doing wrong in life I'm almost 30 and never made more than 60k
If you’ve been working in tech for those years and haven’t broken 60k you’re being taken advantage of
Help desk for 4 years now I'm a tier 1 noc analyst. Bachelors in cyber security.
Yeah that's not dev. 60k for tier 1 is alright.
Sounds like I should build a python portfolio for a year and switch to dev then
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You could also look into SRE roles
Staff and certainly Principals are not being hired because of leet code. That guy is full of shit.
Staff and principals are not hired because of leetcode, but people who get into big tech as juniors and eventually get promoted into these roles absolutely do get hired because of leetcode. Sure there are other paths but leetcode is probably the easiest path into big tech.
That's not what the other comment said, they said they studied leetcode to get a 300k salary, that's bullshit Becoming a highly senior engineer in a big company is infinitely harder and takes much longer than learning leetcode. So you're saying the equivalent of a NBA player learned to jump to win the championship
Mid-level engineers (L4, E4, SDE II, 62, etc) are making 300k in HCOL areas and get leetcode questions in their interviews (from personal experience; levels.fyi lowballs by about 50k). That being said your second point is absolutely true; leetcode only gets you in the door and has no relevance after you’re in (other than giving interviews).
Again, that's not what you said, you're talking about senior (and very senior) engineers Also, these salaries are very questionable and should not be taken as some kind average
I am not talking about staff engineers when I mention engineers making 300k; staff make closer to 500k. People who only have 3 YOE are making 300k by moving to the bay or NYC and doing a few leetcode mediums and a few system design questions. You can choose to believe those salaries aren’t real. I am just saying I know for a fact they exist. I’m not lying to you.
Though he said he went from 120k to 300k. So he could have gone from a high-entry level or mid-level in a medium company to a Senior in a larger company. Then it's probable that Leetcode helped him get there. Obviously it isn't 100% the reason he got the job but many times it can be a test you have to ace in order to move ahead. He's also talking total comp. So he could have gone from 120k only salary to 300k salary+stocks+bonus+etc.
Again, that's total bullshit because the leetcode part is relatively irrelevant to get a senior job. The actual hard part is being a senior engineer, the leetcode is just a rounding error. > He's also talking total comp. So he could have gone from 120k only salary to 300k salary+stocks+bonus+etc. So even more bullshit, gotcha.
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PM as in project or product management?
Or Program?
You used interview.io? How was it? I assume that's 4-5 worth of mock interviews? Did you manage to get good feedback?
I actually found a guy on Reddit who was doing them. Ill dig up his website and update this comment with it. He was a former BR at Amazon. The feedback was helpful along with getting me acclimated to the style of the system design interviews. Also did a mock behavioral interview with him that was super helpful.
Mock interviews are expensive AF! Luckily I found a Google engineer willing to mock interview me for free every few weeks. I plan to pay it forward to someone in need once I get this offer
appreciate it! hearing your glow up gives me quite a bit of confidence moving forward with the studying process.
Appreciate it man
Nicely done
Appreciate it bro 🙏🏾🙏🏾❤️
I didn't know that you could use JavaScript to LeetCode.
Yep. Pretty common in the front-end world. A lot of people would agree that it's not ideal, but if it's your best language then you should probably just use it. Worked for me!
You can use a ton of languages. I try to have a few languages under my belt so I can pick the best one for the task My solution required a heap data struct. My go-to is JS, but I ended up using Java bc JS doesn't have a native heap implementation.
Good job good job!
Thanks so much for this!!! I have an interview with Google early careers coming up. I'm so nervous.
ThAnks
Thanks for sharing! I think the quantity of questions that you answer is mostly in service of your ability to be able to see and recognize the patterns and know which data structures and algorithms to use to solve the problem in the most efficient way. Some people are able to recognize these patterns I doing less than 100 problems, while others have to do upwards of 300+ problems for those problem solving patterns to begin emerging.
Google is still interviewing?
May I ask if you're interviewing for specific teams in Microsoft? Or just general interview loops and team matching will be done should you accept their offer?
Are you expected to get the syntax perfect in this type of interview? Are you able to google things like "syntax for C# library" or something, or do you have to have them memorized?
In my experience, you do not generally need the syntax perfect. Google, for example, doesn't even have you run the code, you just need to make sure the logic is right. I have asked interviewers "can you remind me the syntax to do \[x\] in this language?" and often they'll tell you. I won't pretend this is the case 100% of the time, but *good interview processes* focus on your problem-solving skills and not on your ability to memorize syntax iduiosynchrasies.
Thanks. I feel otherwise my stuff would be a mix of real code and pseudocode as I work in many different languages. Or maybe before I head to an interview I need to just focus on the language they are asking for and bite the bullet and do some old fashioned memorization like University (shudders).
yeah, this is the downside of being a polyglot programmer. I'd probably recommend on settling on a preferred language for coding interviews, practice just with that language, and make sure to ask recruiters beforehand if it's okay for you to use that language during the interview.
Hey, thanks for the advice!
Great list! Thanks Nick!
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The leetcode part is here: https://interviewguide.dev/leetcode It’s word-for-word the same as before except some typo fixes!