Last updated: Dec 27, 2023
Technical interview
- For technical interviews, find curated coding interview preparation materials in the Tech Interview Handbook.
Whiteboard Interview
- Leetcode, many companies pull questions about data structures and algorithms from this website. A set of 150 problems worth studying can be found on NeetCode called NeetCode 150. If you, for example, choose Python as the language to solve said problems and read up on how Python works under the hood (memory allocation, how do list allocate memory), StackOverflow can be a good source to gain insights on that topic as well as the Python for Coding Interviews lesson.
- Lastly, knowledge about the complexity of time and space should be present.
System Design
- Watch some Videos, such as the System Design playlist by NeedCode, which explains how to Design Twitter or YouTube. The video about Designing a service like TinyUrl is also helpful. Lastly, some knowledge about Distributed Cache is good to have.
- Learn how to design large-scale systems with The System Design Primer.
- Read the technical book Designing Data-Intensive Applications (DDIA) to gain more in-depth knowledge on system design.
Behavioral-based interview
- Use the Amazon STAR answer format to answer you behavioral questions.
- Make sure to get some practice with mock interviews.
The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioural-based interview question by discussing the specific situation, task, action, and result of what you’re describing.
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Set of questions
You should not be winging your behavioural interviews.
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99% of the questions are variations of the same basic topics, and thinking of an answer on the spot can be really hard. So internalize your experiences ahead of time and come prepared with some solid stories in your pocket. Here’s the set of questions I always prepare for:
Past work
- What was the biggest challenge?
- What could you have done better?
- Where would you take it next?
- When was a time you failed or pivoted?
Collaboration
- How do you handle conflict?
- How do you divide up work?
- When do you loop in your cross-functional partners?
- How did you lead or coach others?
Process
- How would you approach a tight deadline?
- How do you work within constraints?
- How do you evaluate the success of your work?
- How do you prioritize between different ideas?
Career values
- What are your short- and long-term goals?
- What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?
- What type of environment do you thrive under?
- Why are you leaving your current company?
Being prepared to answer any of these and having some practice under my belt means I rarely get flustered in a behavioural interview anymore and come across as far more confident than I might actually feel.
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