Cleared Meta E5 - prep tips

Coding _______ Practiced top 75 FB LC tagged. First day I just did one question Second day I did the one I did the previous day plus a new one Third day I did the previous two plus a new one Repeated until I had all major concepts down and could do top ~75 tagged in ~3 hours nonstop. If you want to be able to attack 2 LC in 30min, you have to prepare to do any LC in ~5min. It’s shitty I know, but that’s the game you’re playing. (Similar concept to preparing for a 500lbs squat - train like you’re aiming for 750lbs!) Focus on the algorithm/approach, not memorization of question. Practice minor variations of questions. I’d try to modify the question to add or remove constraints. I also practiced different answer variations For example: if possible, I tried to solve with both dfs/bfs to practice the thought pattern behind those algorithms. another example: I tried to solve dfs using both global variable and without On-site was 3 variations of LC tagged plus 1 new questions I didn’t see on LC. Remember that you have to solve the problem otherwise you’re toast. There’s no getting by that binary decision. Put in the hours and you will be rewarded. System Design _____________ https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer This resource is literally all you need I think. It has plenty of links to videos/articles to go more in depth. Additionally, I would go on YouTube and find mock system design interviews, push pause when the candidate was about to jump into solving the question, then do the question myself, and then compare the results. For the most part, I followed this template to structure my interviews: https://leetcode.com/discuss/career/229177/my-system-design-template On-site system design felt very natural because of my YouTube practice and template structure You HAVE to put in the reps here to feel natural. Tip - go wide and if time permits, go deep. The kiss of death here is to go deep early on. Showcase how much you know breadth wise about system design and DISCUSS TRADE OFFS. Behavioral _________ Have stories ready to go. Practice them in front of a mirror and please don’t feel like you have to rush to answer. I took a few minutes to gather my thoughts and that worked. Tip - put sticky notes on monitor if you need reminders for stories. On-site: pretty standard “tell me about a time when project/person/thing happened and when it was negative/positive and how did you react and what did you learn” General Tips ___________ Be nice Ask questions at the end regarding company/persons experiences. Show interest Know that at the end of the day all you can do is put the hours in and hope for the best. If you don’t put the hours in, then you’re not serious. Interview skill != engineering skill please do not get these conflated If you decide to play the game, go all in and you will be rewarded. Push the interview as far back as you need to prepare. Old TC - 230k New TC - 430k 8 YOE prep time - 2 months / ~3-5 hours a day P.S it’s been a fun ride tweeps. (X’ers?) 🫡 edit: added YOE and prep time #meta #engineering #interview #tips

donnemartin/system-design-primer

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