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Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

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Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#31

Post by edmack »

jgalentine007 wrote: post #14
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #4

There are companies that will pay near FANG levels (maybe 10-15% haircut) without subjecting yourself to onerous completion of hundreds of LeetCode problems. There are other options, and we should be aware of them. You'll still need to prove you can code, but the questions we ask have practical application to our codebases: we use recursion and trees, for example, so we ask questions about those. Other companies will…

It's almost like it's easier to start your own company than to get hired at one of these places and actually be happy.

yes!

Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#32

Post by peferron »

jgalentine007 wrote: post #14
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #4

There are companies that will pay near FANG levels (maybe 10-15% haircut) without subjecting yourself to onerous completion of hundreds of LeetCode problems. There are other options, and we should be aware of them. You'll still need to prove you can code, but the questions we ask have practical application to our codebases: we use recursion and trees, for example, so we ask questions about those. Other companies will…

It's almost like it's easier to start your own company than to get hired at one of these places and actually be happy.

Starting your own company is easy for sure! Starting your own successful company is something else, and I found it much harder than getting into FANG, but it requires very different skills and I'm sure some people are better at the former.

Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#34

Post by m0zg »

usaar333 wrote: post #9
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #4

There are companies that will pay near FANG levels (maybe 10-15% haircut) without subjecting yourself to onerous completion of hundreds of LeetCode problems. There are other options, and we should be aware of them. You'll still need to prove you can code, but the questions we ask have practical application to our codebases: we use recursion and trees, for example, so we ask questions about those. Other companies will…

Great post, though a few nits. > There are companies that will pay near FANG levels (maybe 10-15% haircut) without subjecting yourself to onerous completion of hundreds of LeetCode problems. Some even pay more. I wouldn't say FAANG companies even have the highest pay - a lot of the top-tier unicorns are in the same ballpark range. > FANGs? You must prove yourself to gatekeepers before even knowing if there are teams…

>> From experience, while Google does this for their HQ, they don't for remote offices

This is not true. Google interview experience is identical everywhere. Source: spent 6+ years at Google, not in HQ.

Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#35

Post by rabidrat »

akoumis wrote: post #8

Leetcode premium -> do all the problems for the company you are targeting, sorted by most frequently seen in the last 6 months. Then, you will know what your weak points are (mine were minimax and disjoint set problems), and you can go through questions tagged with those topics. Aim to complete at least 60 problems, you should feel fairly comfortable with any Leetcode medium grades, and DFS implementation. Leetcode h…

> Also, "completing" one problem in the context of the above does not mean being able to solve it the first time without checking the solution. It means possibly struggling with the problem for 20 minutes, checking the answer, and making sure you can do it the next day without looking at the answer.

Thanks for saying this. I tried leetcode last time I was looking for work and was thoroughly discouraged. This approach makes a lot of sense for someone who's been coding for a long time.

Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#36

Post by jackraven »

For background, I work currently at one of the FAANMGs and I have spent around 20 years in the industry. I actively interview candidates and I have had offers from 4 of the FAANMGs not too long ago. My experience is that the preparation required varies. It depends whether you are interviewing as a general SWE or pre-slotted. If you are pre-slotted, one or more interviews tend to be specific to your domain and skills. You do need to know Big-Oh notation, trees, BFS/DFS and such standard stuff at most of the places; but how much the interviewer go to basic CS theory tend to vary based on your domain and years of experience.

For example, as an interviewer I often ask computer architecture/operating system questions as that’s what someone coming in, slotted into my team, needs.

In general, a lot of coding questions tend to be pattern matching and how fast you recognize the algorithm/data structure required to solve it. Before going in as a candidate, I did 50-60 leetcode puzzles and a bit of Elements of Programming Interviews. I also interviewed at many places for FAANMG readiness.

All said and done, the biggest factor in interviews is luck - from getting a good interviewer to getting a problem that you can easily identify/enjoy solving. All the preparation stuff is just to hone your skills. More you’ve seen going in, the better.

Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#37

Post by wolco »

bradleyjg wrote: post #17
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #4

There are companies that will pay near FANG levels (maybe 10-15% haircut) without subjecting yourself to onerous completion of hundreds of LeetCode problems. There are other options, and we should be aware of them. You'll still need to prove you can code, but the questions we ask have practical application to our codebases: we use recursion and trees, for example, so we ask questions about those. Other companies will…

levels.fyi is currently showing $466k median offer total comp for L6 (staff SWE) at google. Who is paying $395k-$420k to IC hires without FAANG style interviews? The only other companies paying that to IC hires that I know of are in the financial industry and that interview process is even worse.

You normally don't move into a L6 position from the outside either.

Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#39

Post by wolco »

sjf wrote: post #30
delphinius81 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well in SV all you have to do is work at a startup for more than a year to get "promoted" to senior/lead developer, so it's not surprising that many people applying for those roles aren't actually at that level.

By senior I mean 5+ years experience, not their job title.

5+ years is really the beginning of intermediate. 15 years is a better starting point.

Re: Ask HN: Senior Positions Interview Prep Resources?

#40

Post by usaar333 »

m0zg wrote: post #34
usaar333 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great post, though a few nits. > There are companies that will pay near FANG levels (maybe 10-15% haircut) without subjecting yourself to onerous completion of hundreds of LeetCode problems. Some even pay more. I wouldn't say FAANG companies even have the highest pay - a lot of the top-tier unicorns are in the same ballpark range. > FANGs? You must prove yourself to gatekeepers before even knowing if there are teams…

>> From experience, while Google does this for their HQ, they don't for remote offices This is not true. Google interview experience is identical everywhere. Source: spent 6+ years at Google, not in HQ.

/shrug. When I was considering positions in SF a few years back, I was chatting with hiring managers I'd be under first before going through any whiteboard interviews. Maybe things have changed?
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