Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#121

Post by mmierz » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:24 AM UTC

mason55 wrote: post #101

decebalus1 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> wouldn't it be enough to convert the string into a set of chars, then into an array of chars, sort it, and return as a string? No. Please re-read the problem statement. It's way more complicated than that. If you figure out how to do it, try to figure out how to do it in O(N).

The proposed solution isn’t optimal but it works. Not sure what you think is wrong with it? An optimal solution would be something like - create an array of 26 or 52 bytes depending on whether this is case sensitive - iterate over the string and set the byte corresponding to each letter’s position in the alphabet to 1 - iterate over the byte array and for each 1 you encounter print out the corresponding letter

>The proposed solution isn’t optimal but it works. Not sure what you think is wrong with it?

Consider the input “ba”

This solution will return “ab”, which is not a strong that can be generated by deleting characters from the input.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#122

Post by cryptozeus » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:24 AM UTC

All valid points but this is very personal, no one can answer this. This question alone requires you to meditate on your personal preferences. "I can still keep up coding, but should I do that, or try for management?"

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#123

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:41 AM UTC

MaximumYComb wrote: post #102

decebalus1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You advice is sound but incomplete. > if you still understand your undergraduate level algorithms course and the corresponding vocabulary, then you know what you need to know speaking from experience, this would not get you nowhere near the level you have to be for passing the Google interview (or any other FAANG interview for that matter). You need to study long and hard in addition to solving OJ problems and famili…

I've just finished the 2nd year of my CS degree. In about 3 minutes I came up with: 1) create an empty string, call it "S2" 2) loop over each char in original string 3) if the char isn't in S2, add it to the end of S2. If the char is already present in S2 then lexicographically compare the prior S2 verse S2 with this char shifted to the end. Keep the lower ordered one. This took about 3-4 minutes of thinking and is O…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#124

Post by MaximumYComb » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:51 AM UTC

mmierz wrote: post #116

MaximumYComb wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've just finished the 2nd year of my CS degree. In about 3 minutes I came up with: 1) create an empty string, call it "S2" 2) loop over each char in original string 3) if the char isn't in S2, add it to the end of S2. If the char is already present in S2 then lexicographically compare the prior S2 verse S2 with this char shifted to the end. Keep the lower ordered one. This took about 3-4 minutes of thinking and is O…

That solution as written is O(n^3) This is not an easy problem.

You only check each character in the string once. A hashmap can check if the char is used already.

For each char in the original string there is: * 1 check in hashmap (let's assume it was found). This is O(1) * build a new string where we remove that char from the string we are building (string2) and add it to the end. This step may look O(n) initially since we need to find that char in string2 but string2 is capped at 26 characters so it's O(1) * One comparison between the string we are building and the altered version.

How does that make it O(n^3)? I can't see which step inside the initial loop is O(n) or greater.

EDIT: The solution is actually incorrect so this is now semantics.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#125

Post by asdf21 » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:53 AM UTC

nbm wrote: post #87

syndacks wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the bar for being hired as a FAANG engineering manager? Prev FAANG management experience? Prev FAANG IC role? Cursory LinkedIn searches show many FAANG engineering managers were promoted from within or came from a similar position at a similar company. FWIW I've been both an IC before and have steadily moved to CTO at my current startup. I come from a non traditional background (non CS) but had several leaders…

Being hired in as an engineering manager requires having been an engineering manager previously (at any company), generally for a reasonable period (let's say, minimum two years of full-time management experience minimum with at least 3 direct reports), with a career YOE of around at least five years. You're generally coming in at the same pay band as a senior IC (you might be able to see this sort of information in…

What are the interview questions aligned towards? More soft skills, or are there still a bunch of algo questions, etc?

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#126

Post by MaximumYComb » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:54 AM UTC

171243 wrote: post #115

MaximumYComb wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've just finished the 2nd year of my CS degree. In about 3 minutes I came up with: 1) create an empty string, call it "S2" 2) loop over each char in original string 3) if the char isn't in S2, add it to the end of S2. If the char is already present in S2 then lexicographically compare the prior S2 verse S2 with this char shifted to the end. Keep the lower ordered one. This took about 3-4 minutes of thinking and is O…

input: "bcabc" 1. "b" 2. "bc" 3. "bca" 4. "bca" 5. "bca" What am I missing?

Nothing. I hadn't fleshed out my idea yet and that's the error I thought could exist. My solution is wrong.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#127

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 12:55 AM UTC

MaximumYComb wrote: post #102

decebalus1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You advice is sound but incomplete. > if you still understand your undergraduate level algorithms course and the corresponding vocabulary, then you know what you need to know speaking from experience, this would not get you nowhere near the level you have to be for passing the Google interview (or any other FAANG interview for that matter). You need to study long and hard in addition to solving OJ problems and famili…

I've just finished the 2nd year of my CS degree. In about 3 minutes I came up with: 1) create an empty string, call it "S2" 2) loop over each char in original string 3) if the char isn't in S2, add it to the end of S2. If the char is already present in S2 then lexicographically compare the prior S2 verse S2 with this char shifted to the end. Keep the lower ordered one. This took about 3-4 minutes of thinking and is O…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#128

Post by joshuamorton » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 1:03 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #86

jefftk wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth, I've interviewed 200+ engineers at Google and I think the problem you linked is not a good interview problem. I'm sorry you were asked it! A good problem gives people with algorithms ability a space to demonstrate that, but it should also give space for demonstrating strengths in design, coding, communication, etc. This one is almost all algorithms, of the "have you seen things like this before"…

Does Google interview training emphasize that? Even in companies that claim not to give leetcode questions, they do pop up; everyone isn't really on the same page and there seems to be a lot of luck involved.

Yes.

The other important bit is that you often don't need to just find the optimal solution to get good ratings. For the question I used to use, I've had perhaps one person get the optimal solution without any hints. None have solved the extensions without hints. I've given more than one Strong Hire rating.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#129

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 1:05 AM UTC

171243 wrote: post #115

MaximumYComb wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've just finished the 2nd year of my CS degree. In about 3 minutes I came up with: 1) create an empty string, call it "S2" 2) loop over each char in original string 3) if the char isn't in S2, add it to the end of S2. If the char is already present in S2 then lexicographically compare the prior S2 verse S2 with this char shifted to the end. Keep the lower ordered one. This took about 3-4 minutes of thinking and is O…

input: "bcabc" 1. "b" 2. "bc" 3. "bca" 4. "bca" 5. "bca" What am I missing?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#130

Post by daxfohl » Wed, Jan 08, 2020, 1:19 AM UTC

derwiki wrote: post #107

daxfohl wrote: post #19

Yes, I did exactly this. Stayed a dev, moved to the west coast, got a big pay bump, job stability, and benefits. There are plenty of 40+ devs here. So much of the work at big companies is learning their huge custom domain, don't worry about any particular tech. Only regret is that I absolutely under leveled myself (msft L64), and after a couple years getting dragged through a couple of reorgs, I still feel like promo…

Did you "declare" a target level when you applied?

You don't, not directly. At least at msft. But you can figure out what level you think you should be based on your experience, and then work backwards to determine what base salary to ask for, and the levels are fairly tightly coupled to that.

And don't let imposter syndrome weaken your resolve on that salary if you're coming from somewhere with way lower baselines. You don't need to be a super hero at any level short of "partner" level. You'll just end up with a lower leveled job than you should.