class: center middle
class: center middle
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algorithms, e.g. impelement mergesort
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concept questions, e.g. what is closure
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code analysis, e.g. what does this code print
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project code spelunking, e.g. tell me about this function you wrote for your project
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coding challenge, e.g. build an app that allows users to create and share quizzes
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logic / reasoning puzzles, e.g. how many golf balls fit in a bus
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architecture, e.g. design battleship
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culuture fit questions, e.g. what drew you to us in particular
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experiences questions, e.g. tell me about a time when...
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scenarios, e.g. your PM meets with your team of eight to lay out a new feature you'll be buiding, and she tells you the deadline is in one month, but to you it sounds like it'll take a minimum of 2 months
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have fun! bring curiosty, enthusiasm, and joy
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treat interviewer as collaborator/friend — remember they want to hire you
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be candid, don't b.s.
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focus on what you do know, not what you don't
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ask for silent thinking time if you need it
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engage your interviewer as much as possible (as little unplanned silence as possible)
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"breadth first" approach: break problems up into sub problems and solve each of those—e.g. you implement mergesort by doing:
function mergeSort (arr) {
const halves = splitInHalf(arr);
const sortedLeft = mergeSort(halves[0]);
const sortedRight = mergeSort(halves[1]);
return mergeInOrder(sortedLeft, sortedRight);
}-
remember how many times something went wrong learning / building something at Fullstack, remember you evolved past it
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commiserate ~> re-hash ~> learn ~> adapt (what doesn't kill you makes you stronger)
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reach to others (including your peers and me)
class: center middle
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often involve a whiteboard
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REACTO
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focus on talking through it
Why do interviewers do this?
- they're trying to see how you think
- how you approach problems
- what's in your neural database
- a sort-of simlulated pair-programming / teamwork environment
- what you're like without your fancy tools
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domain knowledge (trivia)
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focus on what you do know
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use examples
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use metaphors
Why do interviewers do this?
- probe the depth of your understanding
- can indicate passion for the technology
- communication skills
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debug, analyze, refactor some code they give you
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reasoning >> truth
Why do interviewers do this?
- your job will involve looking at code you didn't write
- probe the depth of your understanding
- what your reasoning looks like
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questions about code you've written
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if they ask you about things you didn't do
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be honest
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if you can elaborate / explain what's happening, do
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offer another spot that you worked on
Why do interviewers do this?
- validate your contribution
- tangible sense of you as a programmer
- try to get a sense of project planning / management
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usually given mid-interview
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done by yourself asynchronously over the course of day(s)
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try to stand out
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don't solve all sorts of problems they don't ask for
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tests!
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insides >> outsides
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time management can be tough
Why do interviewers do this?
- free work
- work ethic / initiative / meeting deadlines
- a lot like spelunking, but more standardized
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solve this riddle
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sometimes there'll be a "right" answer, other times not
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if you get this, rejoice, because you can explore the problem
Why do interviewers do this?
- somebody can stand out without "domain" knowledge
- looking for how "bright" is this person
- how does this person think about problems
- probing for reasoning abilities
- maybe they're a bit too into themselves
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high-level planning, often involves zero coding
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may involve mentioning tools / libraries
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ask a lot of questions, interviewers will mean different things when they say something like "design battleship"
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think about Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERDs)
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think about UX flows
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think about needs and the tools that solve those needs
Why do interviewers do this?
- less "mechanical" more "abstract" top-level thinking
- how data flows in an application
- there's a difference between a "programmer" and an "software engineer"