Tech Interview Handbook
Let me give a cautionary tale in the form of an ad (my email is in my profile). Full disclaimer: it&#x27;s both, but the value to the discussion is the cautionary tale part. Feel free to ignore the ad part. Edit: I tacked on a perspective how I started to like leetcode questions, I hope that helps people find some inspiration to get through the leetcode grind. If I can do it during the evenings, then so can you! ;-)<p>I&#x27;m looking for a FAANG internship and&#x2F;or entry level job opportunity.<p>Years of experience: 1.5 years<p>Academic degree: bachelor + master computer science.<p>Interview preparedness: 100 leetcode questions, 30 easy, 50 medium, 20 hard (my opinion on them: I like them). Average solving time: 30 minutes for leetcode medium (not quite FAANG level yet).<p>It may seem I aim the bar a bit low. Here is why: after graduation, I took a gap year and because of that missed the graduate loop. Before I knew it, I couldn&#x27;t apply to FAANG anymore because I was not a current student (for internships) or a recent graduate (due to gap year). I also didn&#x27;t realize that being from Europe would hurt my chances somewhat. It took me quite a long time to realize this, and now even more time had passed (after many rejection emails and 0 phone screens).<p>So, it is possible that you may get top marks at your master program. It is possible that you did a bachelor + master and have TA experience during your degree (that I&#x27;m not counting here as experience). Yet, FAANG can still completely ignore you, because you didn&#x27;t know you should be applying for internships when you&#x27;re in your second year of your bachelor.<p>If I could redo it, I would:<p>* Get a real developer job as soon as possible<p>* Start leetcoding in my 3rd year bachelor while applying to internships<p>* More leetcoding during my 2 year master + applying to internships + getting actual developer work experience (actual dev experience trumps TA jobs)<p>This is why I&#x27;m open to internships and&#x2F;or graduate positions. I&#x27;m not good enough at systems design. However, with coding, I think I have a clear shot.<p>To the leetcode naysayers: I used to dislike leetcode questions too. However, I&#x27;ve noticed simply by practicing it, it does become easier over time. More importantly, you have to own it in a way that suits your personality.<p>In my particular case, I view data structures as organisms. I use plants a lot to visualize linked lists and trees. An array + linked list is a brick wall (array), and a vine (a node looks like a vine leaf). Traversing that linked list is dying the whole vine a certain color. Stacks are actual stacks, queues are queues of people, a set I need to iterate through (like an array) looks like my laundry basket, etc. I love visualizing data structures like this and it gives me a sense of wonder. That sense of wonder translates into motivation, and that&#x27;s how I&#x27;m owning it with my personality.<p>Currently, my only real weakness is dynamic programming, but I&#x27;m confident that I can master it over time :)<p>Full disclosure: recently I have been rejected by all the FAANGs again (outright, no phone screen), except for 1 and I&#x27;ve finished their onsite and am awaiting their result. I&#x27;m horrible at systems design though and wish I could interview for a graduate position.<p>If someone could help me apply for a graduate position (internship or job) despite my unusual circumstances, I&#x27;d appreciate that.