How many months of full time leetcoding to pass the Google L3 coding interviews?

Amazon
SAgq64

Go to company page Amazon

SAgq64
Dec 26, 2020 59 Comments

If an average CS college grad that has never heard about leetcode before starts grinding leetcode full time today, how long do you think it would take him to get good enough to get a Google L3 offer?

Please only vote if you actually work at Google as a SWE :)

#engineering #software #swe #google #faang

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TOP 59 Comments
  • It depends on how well they did in their DS&A course. Some people from my university got into google just by doing well in classes while others had to grind leetcode
    Dec 26, 2020 23
    • Whats the best way to get the strong DS&A fundamentals needed for G and other top companies? Read Algo Design Manual and implement the DS&A from scratch?
      Dec 26, 2020
    • Amazon / Eng
      not amazon

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      not amazon
      op learns that ppl actually know ds&a without leetcode
      *surprise pickachu face*
      ps: i myself have had A/G/snap with 0 LC, in fact I only learnt about LC recently from blind
      Dec 27, 2020
  • Amazon
    eOzp63

    Go to company page Amazon

    eOzp63
    You can see all the debate on this question. I think the reason is two-fold. One, some people just aren't great at leetcode, no matter how much time, and others are great at it right from the start. Two, there's a ton of noise in algorithmic interviews and luck. I know for instance I did great on a super hard problem one of the Googler's asked, but I didn't finish this easy problem quickly enough because I was trying to be thorough and the interviewer was half asleep, so I didn't pass.

    I personally would rather overprepare than underprepare, and lay the foundation where you can study for interviews more easily in the future. To me this means you go over problems several times, and then you create a "practice framework" so that you can review these problems again in the future more easily than if you started from scratch.

    I think a mature engineer I spoke to spent 3 months sacrificing his life outside of work (while he worked) to get several senior engineer roles. He also spent a lot of time on system design. But my point is that he himself said leetcode was his weakness, he *knew* where he was weak, and what he had to do if he was to improve, etc. Reading some of these posts from new hires who got into Google without any practice, just being in a top 30 school... I think yes maybe they are smart, and probably their school had to do with it, and expectations were lower for them for a junior role than a senior role. However I see a lack of maturity in them not admitting where they are weak, or how they could have improved. I think a more mature engineer would acknowledge their weaknesses if they only spent a month or two practicing, not brag about how skilled they are. Look at the people winning algorithmic competitions, they've spent hundreds and hundreds of hours practicing. There's a lot to learn in the world of algorithms, and plenty of room to improve. It's up to you if you want to do the bare minimum or really prepare.
    Dec 26, 2020 2
  • Amazon
    SAgq64

    Go to company page Amazon

    SAgq64
    OP
    Guys I’m only trying to help you. Just look at the polls, half of you (those voting 1 month) are living in an imaginary world. Don’t believe the „I got an offer without leetcoding“ bs
    Dec 26, 2020 4
    • Google
      sNNO10

      Go to company page Google

      sNNO10
      I got an L3 offer and I've done < 50 LC problems
      Mar 1, 2021
    • Reliable Software / Eng
      £¥

      Reliable Software Eng

      £¥
      @google how were you able to solve questions in interview with only 50 practice problems?

      Did you get lucky with questions? Or did you have any previous experience with a good undergrad course on ds algo etc? I think most of the normal folks like us had a bad algo course in uni which in turn results in the need of trial and error like grind.

      Would you be able to solve something like alien dictionary in an interview? Just curious
      Mar 1, 2021
  • Google
     

    Go to company page Google

     
    Dec 26, 2020 0
  • Amazon
    BjyJ25

    Go to company page Amazon

    BjyJ25
    Who the hell said “over 1 year”? That’s 40 hours a week or over 2k hours for the year. You could take 2 hours per question and knock out 1k leetcode questions.
    Dec 27, 2020 4
    • KL Software Technologies Inc
      Vicktree

      KL Software Technologies Inc

      Vicktree
      lamo I am a retard.

      this is why even though I did 400 (100 easy/280 medium/20 hard) question I failed my Amazon phone screen for L4 position 5 days ago when I could not figure out how to update my heap correctly

      T_T guess I will need to do 200 more
      Dec 27, 2020
    • Amazon
      BjyJ25

      Go to company page Amazon

      BjyJ25
      Nah be nice to yourself lol easy mix up 😘
      Dec 27, 2020