Keep working, but a bit more efficiently!

Interview Preparation Issues-Part 1

A bunch of people have reached out to me on multiple platforms, sharing how they have been having a tough time with interview preparation and talking about their shortcomings.

This series of articles is basically a compilation of all those calls I have been on. (Too many calls 🥲)

The issues I talk about might feel ‘obvious’ to some people, but these are actual mistakes' people commit unknowingly.

Rather than committing those mistakes yourself, how about just giving a couple of minutes to check if you are on the right path?

Frustration and confusion that you are not progressing is obvious

Everyone has the ability to reach their goals as long as they are persistent, have the right mindset and guidance.

I am not getting time as my company makes me work 10+ hours

Most people who complain about this have trouble finding time to practice DSA.

Realize:

1. You want to leave because you are unhappy or dissatisfied with something. Firstly, check if that can be fixed before you begin preparing.
2. Fully make up your mind to leave. If you are torn between staying and leaving, you won’t be able to focus on any of them.
3. You are leaving, so working those long hours delivering every task on time, is of no use. Put yourself above your company.

You do not have prep time. If you try to prep, you do not have time to work.

The mindset:

1. You have gotten into a tech company, hence you do know basic programming.
   Even if you can spend 1-2 hours a day for the next 4 months, you shall be good to go.
2. Take a structured approach to your preparation.
   - Prepare with a DSA sheet like takeuforward.
   - Solve questions in a time-bound manner.
   - Don’t just run after every roadmap. Pick one and stick to it.
   - Be consistent.
   - Ignore the people offering shortcuts.

Following videos of XYZ YouTuber, but still not able to solve questions

This is a generic issue every person seems to be facing, whether preparing for coding or design rounds.

Videos are a great resource to improve your knowledge base, but in my opinion, they are best left for absolute beginners. When you are a beginner, you need to increase your knowledge.

What I mean is, get to know (this is not an exhaustive list):

1. All relevant data structures.
2. Go through the list of basic algorithms.
3. The basics of System and low-level design.

Realize

1. You need to simulate an environment wherein you will be giving the interview.
2. Listening to someone explain the questions and then the solution doesn’t give you time to put your thought into it or grow.
3. You will end up freezing during the interviews.
4. You need to focus on building your thought process, and that can be done by actually solving problems on your own.

What can be done instead of watching videos?

1. If you are a bit proficient in DSA — Leetcode to the moon.
2. For beginners, I would suggest to
   - choose a language
   - then go through a DSA Sheet like takeuforward
   - Leetcode to the moon

When you begin solving a question, spend at least 15 minutes on it. Try to even give it a brute force try and then look at the discussion.

I have kept my response as generic as possible and will not be discussing issues whose solution is very specific to roles and experience.

Interview Preparation Issues -Part 2

Thank you for reading, and until again! If you have any doubts, let me know in the comments.

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