No Algo experience. But wants to work for FANG.
Hi Guys, I have a BSC in Computer Science and I have been working for last 6+ years as a Software Developer focusing on Java and backend technologies. I can easily crack non-FANG interviews without preparation and I am making 160k right now in Toronto, Canada. But I fail miserably when I try even the easy Leetcode problems. I did take DS/Algo course in bachelors but never focused on it and just did the minimum to get passing grades. What would be the right path to get myself prepared for FANG interviews. I was recently approached by a Google recruiter but didn't go ahead with the interview as I knew I would not be able to crack the interview. I did signup for InterviewKickstart but was overwhelmed and left after a week as everyone in the cohourt was very well versed with basic Algo/DS and the prep material they sent was not enough. My ultimate goal is to be working for FANG as a Data Scientist in about 1 year from now.
You need to learn the fundamental data structures and algorithms or you will never be able to pass a FANG interview. It’s not that hard. Just choose a book and work through it. Then you have to grind leetcode until you have memorized every question and can solve it from memory in a few seconds with no bugs. That’s the hard part.
Yes I am trying to pickup a good resource to start but with so many resources available online these days. Choosing the one is tough for me. Any suggestions on what’s the best book? I know people say clrs but I’ve seen people saying it’s not practical.
I learned from CLRS in college. You don’t need to go through the whole book. Just basic stuff like Arrays, lists, trees, hash tables, heaps, etc.
Memorize? What a stupid way to put it, can you memorize solutions for maths tests? No! You need to understand
What’s is the best way according to you to learn those problem solving/Algorithm skills for interviews?
At Amazon, there’s no algo/ds for data science. It’s a new job family. Need some scripting and sql skills, but no need to pass the sde coding bar. Focus is on applying stats/ml techniques to a variety of problems and knowing he relevant packages to use.
Prepare for IK and finish the course. This is the easiest way.
You don't need leetcode for data scientist at faang. Do you mean ML engineer?
Yes I meant ML engineer. Also i am curious to know what kind of interview questions are asked for a data scientist position in these companies. I am just starting my Data Science studies so ignore if it’s a dumb question.