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Tell us what you think is missing. You don't "feel nearly prepared". Have you prepared? These interviews (for better or worse) tend to be algorithm based. How a

by Jabbles 13y ago

Tell us what you think is missing. You don't "feel nearly prepared". Have you prepared? These interviews (for better or worse) tend to be algorithm based. How are you on those?

Selfcommit 13y ago
Example scenario: If you ask me to solve a problem, I can intelligently talk to you about what a program that solves that problem is expected to do, and happily whiteboard a big picture idea. If I don't know the language required for implementation, that's ok because I'm pretty confident I can work out the basics and what I need to code. To meet your points: A) I haven't really put myself out there in a while(over a year), I've been 'prepping' B) My algorithm's are poor. While I understand the concept of Big O notation, I can't readily look at something and say "oh that's a _______ sort"
- Jabbles 13y ago
  Algorithms aren't really about recognising standard implementations - although in preparation you'll certainly learn that. It's about having a deep understanding of programs' flow, and being able to recreate and combine patterns when needed to solve a problem. You should "prep" your algorithms knowledge - it plays a big role in a lot of interviews.
  - Selfcommit 13y ago
    Thanks. Can you provide a sample question? Or direct me to a good place to look?
- avolcano 13y ago
  For what it's worth, I didn't have to whiteboard once during my several interviews. If you're interviewing with new SF or NYC startups, you'll find many of them care far more about practical* skills than pop quizzes. This certainly isn't universal, but it shouldn't frighten you away from trying interviews. * (not that algorithm knowledge isn't practical, but for a lot of smaller, "web-interface-around-a-database" startups, they're not nearly as important as being comfortable around a full web stack)
  - Selfcommit 13y ago
    I need to take time to build code I can actually show off. The things I build now are essentially web interfaces sitting on databases. The problem is they aren't exactly.. or at all.. legal. Great learning projects (putting my home video library into a web interface, with episode data from a TV series API) but not something I feel I can show.

by Jabbles 13y ago

Tell us what you think is missing. You don't "feel nearly prepared". Have you prepared? These interviews (for better or worse) tend to be algorithm based. How are you on those?

Selfcommit 13y ago

Example scenario: If you ask me to solve a problem, I can intelligently talk to you about what a program that solves that problem is expected to do, and happily whiteboard a big picture idea. If I don't know the language required for implementation, that's ok because I'm pretty confident I can work out the basics and what I need to code. To meet your points: A) I haven't really put myself out there in a while(over a year), I've been 'prepping' B) My algorithm's are poor. While I understand the concept of Big O notation, I can't readily look at something and say "oh that's a _______ sort"

Jabbles 13y ago
Algorithms aren't really about recognising standard implementations - although in preparation you'll certainly learn that. It's about having a deep understanding of programs' flow, and being able to recreate and combine patterns when needed to solve a problem. You should "prep" your algorithms knowledge - it plays a big role in a lot of interviews.
- Selfcommit 13y ago
  Thanks. Can you provide a sample question? Or direct me to a good place to look?
avolcano 13y ago
For what it's worth, I didn't have to whiteboard once during my several interviews. If you're interviewing with new SF or NYC startups, you'll find many of them care far more about practical* skills than pop quizzes. This certainly isn't universal, but it shouldn't frighten you away from trying interviews. * (not that algorithm knowledge isn't practical, but for a lot of smaller, "web-interface-around-a-database" startups, they're not nearly as important as being comfortable around a full web stack)
- Selfcommit 13y ago
  I need to take time to build code I can actually show off. The things I build now are essentially web interfaces sitting on databases. The problem is they aren't exactly.. or at all.. legal. Great learning projects (putting my home video library into a web interface, with episode data from a TV series API) but not something I feel I can show.