Download - Cracking the Coding Interview
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Cracking the Coding Interview
featuring:
Amit GaurDirector of Engineering at
Hosted by: Caitlin QuanEvisors Marketing & Operations Associate
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Agenda
1. About Amit
2. Tech Interviews
3. Interview Preparation
4. During the Interview
5. Longer Term Strategies
6. Q&A
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About Amit
• Masters in Computer Science, Rutgers University
• 8+ years working at tech companies : Amazon, Yahoo! & startups
• Grew from individual contributor to Director of Engineering
• Hired & interviewed hundreds of engineers
• Built up engineering teams from 5 to 35 engineers
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The Problem
• Technical Interviews are hard!• Let’s look at some tools and approaches
to making the process easier and also have fun while at it.
• Why is this even important? You want to master this as this will help you throughout your career
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What are engineering firmslooking for?
• Smart and talented (Yes that’s you!)• Team player (It's not just about you)• Effective communicator (Getting the point
across)• Invested in success ( Do you really care?)• Keep it Simple Stupid (Gets the job done
and personable)
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Typical Tech Interview Structure
• Technical Phone Screen (1 or 2)• Off Site Coding Problem (optional)• On Site Interviews
– Meet multiple Interviewers
• Most tech companies follow the same core structure with some minor differences
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Before The Interview
• Resume Review
• Interview Preparation
• Behavioral Questions
• Core Technical Questions
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Behavioral Concepts
• Prepare answers to the following questions– Most Challenging – What You Learned – Most Interesting – Hardest Bug – Enjoyed Most – Conflicts with Teammates
• Understand the Product/Company you are interviewing for
• What to ask the interviewer: ask genuine and insightful questions
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Technical Preparation
• Revise All Core CS Concepts (More Later)• Problem Solving : Practice on paper and whiteboard• Write clean code : Maintainable and readable• Compiles Correctly• Works for Error/Edge Cases • Testable• Practice Mock Interviewing
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Core Data Structures
• Arrays• Linked Lists• Binary Trees• Tries• Stacks• Queues• Hash Tables
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Algorithms
• Graph Traversal – Depth First Search – Breadth First Search
• Binary Search
• Sorting Algorithms– Quick Sort– Merge Sort
• String Manipulation
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Additional Concepts
• Bit Manipulation
• Design Patterns– Creational– Behavioral– Structural
• Recursion vs Iterative Solutions
• Computational Time Complexity
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Foolproof Approach to Tackling Coding Problems
• Understand the Problem • Resolve Ambiguity• Design an Algorithm • Quick Pseudo Code• Express Computational & Space Complexity• Write Code • Test Code
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Patterns of Problem Solving
• Practice! Practice!• Develop patterns of thinking and intuition with practice • Exposure to wide variety of classic algorithmic
problems• Whiteboard• Collaborate : Mock Interviews
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Synergize with the Community
• Write your own blog• Subscribe and follow top blogs/websites :
Artima/StackOverflow • Participate : TopCoder/Google Summer of
Code/StackOverFlow• Attend User Group Meetings: eg.JUG,
Ruby on Rails User Groups
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Longer Term : Sharpen the Saw
• Contribute/follow open source • Keep up to date with new technologies• Do Side Projects• Keep up to date with industry best
practices• Keep Learning!
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Connect
Book your one-on-one session with Amit at
careercup.evisors.com/expert/2048
Amit GaurDirector of Engineering at
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Questions & Answers
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Questions & Answers
Question 1:
How do you balance the length and depth of your answers?
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Questions & Answers
Question 2:
How do you prepare for coding interviews where the managers are not knowledgeable of current coding practices?
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Questions & Answers
Question 3:
Are there a lot of problems that require critical thinking beforehand? How do you prepare for these problems?
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Questions & Answers
Question 4:
What is the best way to answer design questions? What does the interviewer really expect to see from this?
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Questions & Answers
Question 5:
Is it okay to bring notes into the interview (Example: Current projects you have worked on)?
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Questions & Answers
Question 6:
Does the format of the tech interview reflect the characteristics of the company?
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Questions & Answers
Question 7:
Are there any common mistakes you see candidates make in these interviews?
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Questions & Answers
Question 8:
Do you have any advice for those struggling to find an answer to a tough problem?
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