Getting a job at a top tech company requires preparation. Whether you're targeting FAANG companies or promising startups, this guide covers everything you need to ace your technical interviews.
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Start Prep Free ?Types of Technical Interviews
- Coding Interviews: Solve algorithmic problems
- System Design: Design large-scale systems
- Behavioral: Past experiences and soft skills
- Technical Deep-Dive: Discuss past projects
Data Structures to Master
- Arrays and Strings
- Linked Lists
- Stacks and Queues
- Trees and Graphs
- Hash Tables
- Heaps
Essential Algorithms
- Binary Search
- BFS and DFS (Graph traversal)
- Dynamic Programming
- Recursion and Backtracking
- Sorting algorithms
- Two Pointers / Sliding Window
Practice Strategy
The 3-Month Plan
- Month 1: Data structures and easy problems (50-75 LeetCode)
- Month 2: Medium problems and patterns (75-100 problems)
- Month 3: Hard problems, system design, mock interviews
LeetCode Patterns to Know
- Two Pointers
- Sliding Window
- Fast and Slow Pointers
- Merge Intervals
- Cyclic Sort
- Top K Elements
System Design Interviews
For senior roles, expect system design questions:
- Design Twitter/Instagram
- Design URL Shortener
- Design YouTube
- Design Chat System
Key Concepts
- Load balancing
- Caching
- Database sharding
- CAP theorem
- Microservices
Behavioral Interviews (STAR Method)
Use the STAR format for behavioral questions:
- Situation: Set the context
- Task: Describe your responsibility
- Action: Explain what you did
- Result: Share the outcome
Common Questions
- Tell me about a challenging project
- Describe a conflict with a teammate
- When did you fail? What did you learn?
- Why do you want to work here?
Free Resources
- LeetCode: 2000+ coding problems
- NeetCode: Curated problem roadmap
- System Design Primer: GitHub repository
- Pramp: Free mock interviews
- Interviewing.io: Practice with engineers
Interview Day Tips
- Think out loud
- Ask clarifying questions
- Discuss trade-offs
- Test your code with examples
- Be honest when you don't know
Technical interviews are a skill you can improve with practice. Start today, stay consistent, and you'll be ready for your dream job!