Do students from top schools ever struggle to nail interviews?

Amazon / Eng
NotDelinqu

Go to company page Amazon Eng

PRE
Oracle
NotDelinqu
Apr 16, 2018 21 Comments

I say that because folks at Stanford never seem to complain about this sorta thing and get Google and FB just by reading CTCI and doing a few leetcode problems.

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TOP 21 Comments
  • Amazon / Eng
    Foods

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    Foods
    Yes. I’m an Ivy grad, everyone I’ve met at my school and from other ivies / MIT / CMU agréés that interviews are hard to do well on, and that they’re mostly random, too, even if you’re well prepared

    I think there’s a tendency to assume other people have an easy time because they don’t talk about the experience, only the positive outcomes
    Apr 16, 2018 6
    • Amazon / Eng
      NotDelinqu

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      PRE
      Oracle
      NotDelinqu
      OP
      To make the same amount as a high band new grad at Google you have to be a high band sde2 or low band sde3.
      Apr 16, 2018
    • T-Mobile
      teethmouth

      Go to company page T-Mobile

      teethmouth
      NotDelinqu, your mindset is broken and you are only hurting yourself by thinking the crap you are spewing. Seriously, it is not our problem, it is your problem.
      Apr 17, 2018
  • Uber
    ring0000

    Go to company page Uber

    ring0000
    Yes. Had many bomb even phone interviews
    Apr 16, 2018 0
  • Amazon / Eng
    wtfwtf

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    wtfwtf
    What do you consider top schools?
    Apr 16, 2018 3
  • Yes. I failed many of my interviews despite spending a ton of time preparing. I feel like it’s very hit or miss. Now that I’m interviewing candidates I feel like I have a better sense of how arbitrary success at these interviews is.

    Your best bet is to spend a lot of time preparing so you’ll be familiar with most of what they could throw at you. CTCI is pretty good, I bet your pass rate will go up if you do every problem in it, and you’ll also learn a lot.
    Apr 16, 2018 3
  • Lyft / Eng
    [✓]

    Go to company page Lyft Eng

    [✓]
    Absolutely. Interviewing is a different skill that isn't taught in schools. I've seen bootcamp grads do way better than those from top schools. A big reason is because they have dedicated lessons on just that.
    Apr 16, 2018 2
    • Visa
      YpSG20

      Go to company page Visa

      YpSG20
      This is interesting. Are there any other places that have lessons dedicated to interview skills ? Pramp is interesting but feels more like something to help get over nervousness.
      Apr 16, 2018
    • Lyft / Eng
      [✓]

      Go to company page Lyft Eng

      [✓]
      I come from a non-engineering background and I've received offers from every company I interviewed for (13). Three of those are FANG.

      My recommendation is reviewing a book dedicated to interviews (i.e. Cracking the Coding Interview). I personally prefer Elements of Programming Interviews. Once you have a solid foundation, leetcode it up with paper and pen. Work through the problems out loud as if you're explaining it to someone. Lastly, do some actual mock interviews either with friends or using something like interviewing.io.
      Apr 16, 2018