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Never study for a test directly, particularly if it figures to help you get a job. Just learn stuff and build stuff

• jpgvm 5y ago
  Learning and building stuff won't help you pass these interviews. Which is ironic but it also means that applying for a company that uses such interviews is a completely different task to becoming a better engineer. Personally I avoid such places, there is sufficiently good compensation available elsewhere from people that don't expect me to perform parlour tricks on a whiteboard for their amusement.
  • Jensson 5y ago
    It depends on what you learn and build. If you learn and build algorithmic solutions to hard problems then it will help with these interviews.
    • jpgvm 5y ago
      I think even having a working knowledge of common algorithms and data-structures is insufficient preparation for these. They often call for incredibly esoteric algos/datastructures or test for patterns incredibly uncommon in industry, i.e dynamic programming. I would say even if you had a good background in how to implement a proper production ready database, i.e b+trees, bloom filters, journaling, etc. This while certainly enough to do the job of building a database would be insufficient to pass the interview to build a database. Which to me seems like the system is broken.