I am currently a Program manager with CS background and degree but the nature of my day to day work has taken me away from coding . I am now starting to look at applying for TPM positions at FAANG and I am aware google and FB both ask coding questions during the interview. It’s been a while I haven’t coded and I am confused where to start. What do you recommend ? How long do I need before I can start applying? What level of coding questions are asked at these tech giants? YOE : 7
TPMs code?
At google they expect you to clear a coding round and do code reviews etc regularly .. that’s what I have heard how much a Tpm actually codes on a daily basis I am not certain !
They don't do any code reviews. Tpms are mostly just expected to be able to automate process (note Google doesn't use any commercially available tools, it's all build it internally, poorly, by tpms and enterprising swes) by scripting and be able to spot technical risks on products they own - ie converse intelligently with tls and technical leadership.
I don’t think FB tpms code/ expect to code.
Are you relearning the language as well?
I believe will have to I have experience with Java but again it has been a while I feel I have to start from basics
Look for the path of least resistance. Some languages will have higher complexities when solving algorithm problems. Python is very quick to pick up. You can get the basics in days (or weeks if you’re rusty) to start solving Leetcode.
Is this real? Are companies asking PMs to pass a code round? I don’t get it...
Google has a reputation for being more critical here. One of the interview rounds is always technical. Amazon and FB are on the other side of the spectrum (with exception to TPM roles). I’ve heard mixed feedback on how deep people go and if there’s whiteboard coding requirements. Sounds dependent on how you sell yourself and the interviewer.
How well do you have to do? Proper syntax and what not or can you essentially make up a language to show you get the concepts?
It's kind of hit or miss. I came in as tpm and my interviews all had a technical spin on them, even for the program parts. There were two actual technical interviews, one which was just questions about distributed systems and databases - i had sql on my resume, you should expect that any technical questions are oriented to distributed systems. With SWE interview they asked me some general psuedo code whiteboard stuff in algo design. Asked me map reduce design. For Google, review the big technologies they have, Borg/Kubernetes, spanner, bigtable, map reduce & dremel/big query, spin your answers to those paradigms.
Do you have an example of the algo questions you got asked?
An example would be something like find meeting conflicts between two calendars, understand your time complexity that you can search two sorted, balanced trees n log n. Never really got anything deeper into, say, how is the tree balanced, we just assumed that I understand what balanced means. Fyi i was 7 yoe, L4
The industry standard for coding interview prep is leetcode as I’m sure you’ve heard. Once you identify your target position and level, find out what level of leetcode questions are typically asked and make sure you can routinely answer them correctly.