Uber phone interview preparation guide

Walmart
eccn24

Go to company page Walmart

eccn24
Feb 1, 2020 8 Comments

My recruiter has shared a “Uber Backend Engineering Phone Screen Preparation Guide” pdf for my upcoming SWE phone screen.

There is a line in that which says “Avoid studying up on Tree Balancing, Memorization/DP.”

what does this mean?

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TOP 8 Comments
  • New / Eng
    nubidubidu

    New Eng

    PRE
    Lyft
    nubidubidu
    Do 500 Leetcodes and be ready for every possible question. Read CTCI 5 times.
    Feb 1, 2020 0
  • Uber
    wpoznskx

    Go to company page Uber

    wpoznskx
    Doesn't mean it cannot be asked at all but it's less likely even in onsite. Same applies for tree balancing, special trees etc. Focus on fundamental DS and algos and you should be good. Gayle Laakmann suggests that understanding DP might be important depending on the role but it shouldn't be the primary focus of interviewing. You can leave DP at the very end after you are confident enough on other DS (Graph, Trees, Tries, Stack, Queue etc.)
    Feb 1, 2020 0
  • Avoid tree balancing problems - balance binary search tree. I think you mean memoization and dynamic programming. I am sure you know what these are. Efficient ways of solving problems that need recursive computation. All the best.

    Hope some faang and uber gurus add to it to help you.
    Feb 1, 2020 3
  • Uber
    qHdr75

    Go to company page Uber

    qHdr75
    guess engs at uber stopped asking those kinds of questions? it may be that asking those doesn’t provide much info/signal on candidates’ technical abilities. good luck!
    Feb 1, 2020 1
    • Uber
      wpoznskx

      Go to company page Uber

      wpoznskx
      +1. If you practice different types of DP problems, you'll be able to recognize and solve DP quickly vs someone who is otherwise technically strong but couldn't recognize a DP problems in that limited time. So, it's discouraged. Same goes for special trees etc. where you have to memorize certain tricks.
      Feb 1, 2020