Is this just bad luck, or should I expect a lc hard during phone interviews from FAANG? I think I was able to solve it, but probably not a great answer.
I was asked a hard question as well. That seems normal. I have seen and heard this happening on different occasions.
Luck. Microsoft asked me to determine if a string was an anagram LC SUPER EASY. Google asked me to do topological sort, without actually saying that - LC HARD. Goog asked me to do campus bikes. Med Amazon asked me to sort a list of strings by 3rd element. Easy Bloomberg asked me to use a binary tree to store historical data. Medium Amazon asked me to do something similar to meeting rooms. Med. It's all just luck. If you're wondering about my success with the greater process, I'm still in it.
Is FB even a top company still? Isn’t it just for TC chasers
Define top company
TopCompany = !Cisco
It really depends on a person who interviews you. Uber also asked me topological sort over the phone. And I didn’t even realize that I needed that sort
I was asked a leetcode easy during my whiteoarding after being flown out for the onsite for my current job at Apple. Dozens of no name startups asked me that or worse during more initial rounds, or gave me some insanely hard codility assessment. Luck and timing play a huge role in all of this. Just keep applying and interviewing and you get better at selling yourself.
THIS. The more relaxed you appear and the more you fit with the culture the easier the interview is. That’s what I’ve observed. If they don’t want to hire you they’ll make the interview hard af
Microsoft asked me the easiest NP-hard problem in OTS Amazon asked me a LC hard in OA (articulation vertex). Luckily I just read about the problem in my book a couple weeks prior
You'll likely be invited onsite if your solution was mostly correct and you did a good job explaining your thought process. Good luck!
Was it a question listed with the FB tag on leetcode
All my coding interviews at FB were two LC mediums per 45 minute session. I hope they only ask one question per session for hards.
Both. People won’t always be asked LC hards but you should be prepared for them. You didn’t get unlucky in getting asked a hard as much as people get lucky when they DON’T get asked a hard. Interviewing requires strong skills mixed with good luck/opportunity, don’t be bummed out, just try again!
Thanks! I have a few other opportunities lined up but this one was the one I was looking forward to the most.
Yeah don’t let it put you down. Interviewing in tech is far from an accurate measure of competency, and like I said luck plays a huge a factor. There are plenty of companies that are just as great if not better than FB, and there’s always more time to try and get in. Just know that even if you prepare your ass off for next time, you still may not get a desirable result from FB itself; it’s probably better to interview with a handful of similar companies and if you’re well prepared, you have a great chance of landing at least one, which may not be Facebook. Being overly concerned with getting an offer from one company often sets you up for failure.