Want to get tips from moms with kids and trying to prepare for interviews. I hardly find time to prepare, balancing work, home is making hard for me to find anytime to practice coding problems. And when people on blind talk about leetcode, it makes me worry.
Think about how hard it is for me to leetcode when I need to take care of my grandchildren.
Dad here. Wife is in college. I try to support her as much as I can and try to give her time to study when I'm home, but I understand how difficult it is. Try to get as much support from your family as you possibly can. Make it a family goal, not a personal one, and they will probably buy it. Best luck!
Ull be fine. There are a lot of parents in companies at all levels. Though thats declining
It is hard. Especially with Leetcode, you need to get to a zone and keep practicing every day. If I take a break and come back, I had to start from the beginning again. Of course you can go faster, but then, my point is continuity is important. I have been in your situation before. Just allocate some time for yourself everyday. Be little selfish. It’s just for a short period. You can repay this time back to your family after you change your jobs.
Iam mom but Iam not working so I drive my kid to daycare and study during the day. If you are already working , it is a little bit hard or will take loner time to get prepared. The only solution is taking vacation for a week to study hard then you can make a daily plan after that by force your self solving some problems at morning before work and few at night. And utilize weekend to the max. I thought Leetcode is hard on the beginning but once I used yo it it be one easier and easier. I recommend to start with EPI book and try to understand each problem well then for got Leetcode most frequently asked per company. And educative.io for system design . Good luck mom .
Optimize ..you won’t be able to prepare for everything. And being a busy person, your focused prep will be much better than someone who has all the time in the world. As they say, if you want something done, give it to a busy person. Don’t worry about people who are solving 1000 problems without having a single interview on hand. The effectiveness of memory declines and if you’ve solved something 8 or 9 months ago, it’s likely you’ll forget it during the interview. So those people are not necessarily better off than you. Also don’t forget that you probably will have better chances at behavioral interviews so it’s not just leetcode that matters. Being a parent you have high EQ. Don’t neglect that edge you have.
I had my phone screen (coding) while my infant was on my breast nursing (I really tried to give some hours to the recruiter that I thought my baby would be asleep, but it's really impossible to be exact during the first month). Fast forward 5 years later (now 2 kids, one of them being a toddler) the only way I could practice LC was at night when they're asleep. My brain is very slow after a long day of work and kids, so the process was very slow and not fun at all, but it was a goal for me and it worked. I know it's really hard, just try not to think about the college kids with no family/kids who have all the time and energy in the world to LC. Be consistent, persistent, and on a schedule, and it'll work.
Yes, the only time I get is at night and from the last month or so only getting 5 hours of sleep. Even at night I can only go through 2-3 problems at max. It probably will take longer to get to a stage where I can be confident and pass the interviews.
Single parent here, I used to study at night after 8 once my kiddo sleeps. Weekends too at night, mornings are tough.
Can the dad not take the kids for an hour or two so that you can do some LC?
He does, but on weekends there are hundred other things to do at home. But I guess I just have to prioritize and forget about everything else for the time being.