5 ms·

Sorry to say that if you haven't been prepping with various Algorithms, Data Structures, and Systems Design questions every single day for weeks, maybe months a

Sorry to say that if you haven't been prepping with various Algorithms, Data Structures, and Systems Design questions every single day for weeks, maybe months ahead of time - you're probably screwed unless you get lucky. You're doing the equivalent of going in cold for the SAT if you're just now asking for this advice...

tempThrowAwayG 9y ago
Ok. That hurt but thanks for the honest response. Would it make sense to post pone the interview?
- askafriend 9y ago
  If you can postpone the interview, that would help for sure. Maybe kick it out another week or two (not sure if the recruiter will let you). In the meantime, fire up Leetcode and do as many Medium difficulty questions as you can until your eyes bleed. And I mean really learn them - don't just do them through rote memorization - cramming won't work. You have to learn to recognize the different problem solving techniques/patterns quickly and apply them through code. When your eyes start bleeding, take a break from Leetcoding and think about your previous work and try to crystallize a narrative around career. You're going to be asked about your previous work, challenges you've faced, approaches you've taken to common problems, etc etc. Be able to answer those really well. If you have something on your resume, be able to explain it really well. I don't have any specific advice around this since each person's career is unique. When your eyes have stopped bleeding - promptly get back to Leetcode. When you're one or two days away from the interview - and this is really really important - make sure you don't do any practice or review of any kind. Eat well, exercise, get an amazing night of sleep, and gather a sense of perspective about why you're doing any of this at all. On the day of the interview, wake up early, be prepared, and be cool as a cucumber regardless of what happens. You've done all you could - you're in God's hands now. If you get rejected, don't sweat it. Many current Googlers have endured 2-4 rejections from Google before making it in. It's not that uncommon. You just go back to the drawing board, figure out where you could have prepped better, and move forward in your career whether you end up at Google or not - because that is what winners do. Oh and this post is only kind of tongue in cheek. I really am mostly serious about this advice if you're serious about passing the bar at a company like Google or any of the top, high paying tech companies.
  - Spoom 9y ago
    FYI they will no longer consider you after three rejections now.
tempThrowAwayG 9y ago
Also, let's say I had a month to prepare. What all material should I be going through?
- matthewvincent 9y ago
  Make a leetcode account and do nothing else until your interview.
slackingoff2017 9y ago
Pretty sad what you have to do to have a chance at getting a job these days. Is there any proof that this gets better employees? I haven't seen a shred of real scientific evidence. Is it anything more than corporate hazing? You have to think that for each person hired probably 100 others spent months of their life preparing for the interview. What a massive waste of human effort.
- askafriend 9y ago
  This isn't just any job. This is a $250-450k per year job for an engineer working on multi-billion-user scale systems/products at one of the most successful companies in the world. Everybody and their mother wants to work at companies like Google, Facebook, Netflix, or similar. So while the preparation and interview processes can be brutal, they filter out all the people who aren't 100% serious or committed. There are many talented people that get rejected from Google routinely and that's fine - Google can't employ them all. They will be fine. I don't see people gawking at MIT's admission standards. MIT turns down ridiculously talented and accomplished students all the time. That being said, with enough grit, preparation, and patience, getting a job at Google isn't that crazy assuming you're good at what you do and you're willing to put in the time. It's probably far far more of a crapshoot to get into MIT. Again, I'm not saying I agree with the way things are but I'm trying to help put them in context for you. Not every job pays $250-450k and not every job is Google.
  - ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
    Every Google engineer makes a minimum of $250k? Glassdoor doesn’t suggest this. Do you know this to be true?
    - askafriend 9y ago
      Yes, if you're in the Bay Area and work for Google as a mid level engineer your total compensation is at least $250k a year. Closer to 200k a year for new grads fresh out of School who have 0 experience. Look at my other reply. This is incredibly common at the top companies in the Bay Area or any other major city (Seattle, NYC, etc).
Spoom 9y ago
Interviewed at Google, this is spot on. You need to know arrays, trees, graphs, stacks, queues, at least two sorts (I suggest mergesort and quicksort), dynamic programming, greedy optimization, and big O cold at an absolute minimum. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff. They tell you all this in the "secret" onsite prep website.

tempThrowAwayG 9y ago

Ok. That hurt but thanks for the honest response. Would it make sense to post pone the interview?

askafriend 9y ago
If you can postpone the interview, that would help for sure. Maybe kick it out another week or two (not sure if the recruiter will let you). In the meantime, fire up Leetcode and do as many Medium difficulty questions as you can until your eyes bleed. And I mean really learn them - don't just do them through rote memorization - cramming won't work. You have to learn to recognize the different problem solving techniques/patterns quickly and apply them through code. When your eyes start bleeding, take a break from Leetcoding and think about your previous work and try to crystallize a narrative around career. You're going to be asked about your previous work, challenges you've faced, approaches you've taken to common problems, etc etc. Be able to answer those really well. If you have something on your resume, be able to explain it really well. I don't have any specific advice around this since each person's career is unique. When your eyes have stopped bleeding - promptly get back to Leetcode. When you're one or two days away from the interview - and this is really really important - make sure you don't do any practice or review of any kind. Eat well, exercise, get an amazing night of sleep, and gather a sense of perspective about why you're doing any of this at all. On the day of the interview, wake up early, be prepared, and be cool as a cucumber regardless of what happens. You've done all you could - you're in God's hands now. If you get rejected, don't sweat it. Many current Googlers have endured 2-4 rejections from Google before making it in. It's not that uncommon. You just go back to the drawing board, figure out where you could have prepped better, and move forward in your career whether you end up at Google or not - because that is what winners do. Oh and this post is only kind of tongue in cheek. I really am mostly serious about this advice if you're serious about passing the bar at a company like Google or any of the top, high paying tech companies.
- Spoom 9y ago
  FYI they will no longer consider you after three rejections now.

tempThrowAwayG 9y ago

Also, let's say I had a month to prepare. What all material should I be going through?

matthewvincent 9y ago
Make a leetcode account and do nothing else until your interview.

slackingoff2017 9y ago

Pretty sad what you have to do to have a chance at getting a job these days. Is there any proof that this gets better employees? I haven't seen a shred of real scientific evidence. Is it anything more than corporate hazing? You have to think that for each person hired probably 100 others spent months of their life preparing for the interview. What a massive waste of human effort.

askafriend 9y ago
This isn't just any job. This is a $250-450k per year job for an engineer working on multi-billion-user scale systems/products at one of the most successful companies in the world. Everybody and their mother wants to work at companies like Google, Facebook, Netflix, or similar. So while the preparation and interview processes can be brutal, they filter out all the people who aren't 100% serious or committed. There are many talented people that get rejected from Google routinely and that's fine - Google can't employ them all. They will be fine. I don't see people gawking at MIT's admission standards. MIT turns down ridiculously talented and accomplished students all the time. That being said, with enough grit, preparation, and patience, getting a job at Google isn't that crazy assuming you're good at what you do and you're willing to put in the time. It's probably far far more of a crapshoot to get into MIT. Again, I'm not saying I agree with the way things are but I'm trying to help put them in context for you. Not every job pays $250-450k and not every job is Google.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
  Every Google engineer makes a minimum of $250k? Glassdoor doesn’t suggest this. Do you know this to be true?
  - askafriend 9y ago
    Yes, if you're in the Bay Area and work for Google as a mid level engineer your total compensation is at least $250k a year. Closer to 200k a year for new grads fresh out of School who have 0 experience. Look at my other reply. This is incredibly common at the top companies in the Bay Area or any other major city (Seattle, NYC, etc).

Spoom 9y ago

Interviewed at Google, this is spot on. You need to know arrays, trees, graphs, stacks, queues, at least two sorts (I suggest mergesort and quicksort), dynamic programming, greedy optimization, and big O cold at an absolute minimum. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff. They tell you all this in the "secret" onsite prep website.