The unfair way I got good at Leetcode
Summary
TLDRThe script provides advice on effectively preparing for coding interviews. It recommends focusing first on learning common solutions rather than attempting to solve questions from scratch. This builds intuition within topics more quickly. It advises solving questions in an interview-style setting to practice split attention required in actual interviews. It notes the importance of quality over quantity in practice, focusing on foundational and common topics. It cautions against getting caught up in exotic solutions, emphasizing reasonable solutions that demonstrate competence. Finally, it encourages diligent, consistent practice over time to develop reliable interview skills.
Takeaways
- 📝 Starting your coding interview preparation journey can feel overwhelming due to the vast amount of information available.
- 🔥 Early on, focus on learning solutions to develop intuition for problem-solving, rather than attempting to solve questions immediately.
- 🏆 Practice with a structured approach by categorizing questions into easy and medium, and learn common solutions before attempting to solve them.
- 📈 Developing a deep understanding of certain topics can be more beneficial than trying to cover every possible area.
- 🚧 Interviews are less about silently solving problems and more about actively engaging the interviewer with your thought process.
- 📚 Quality over quantity: Focus on understanding common patterns and solutions rather than trying to solve as many questions as possible.
- 🖥 Utilize resources like Pramp to practice technical questions in a more realistic, interview-like setting.
- 📊 Interviews tend to focus on foundational topics like arrays, trees, and data structures over more advanced topics like dynamic programming.
- 📖 Tailor your preparation to the company and role by researching and practicing questions posted by others from similar interviews.
- 💻 Preparing for interviews with hiring managers should include understanding the company’s engineering challenges and weaving that knowledge into the conversation.
- 👍 Consistent practice over a long period is key to becoming proficient in technical interviews; it's a marathon, not a sprint.
Q & A
Why is starting to learn coding for interviews described as difficult?
-The difficulty in starting to learn coding for interviews stems from the challenge of being good enough to solve problems to land a job at high-paying companies and the overwhelming amount of information available, making it hard to know where to begin.
What strategy did the speaker use to improve at solving coding problems?
-The speaker focused on learning solutions rather than immediately attempting to solve questions. This approach helped in developing intuition more quickly and solving questions faster within specific topics, like binary trees.
What method did the speaker recommend for learning about a new coding topic?
-The speaker recommended starting with making two lists of easy and medium difficulty questions, learning common solutions well before practicing solving questions, and then moving on to practice with attention to new patterns or solutions for unfamiliar problems.
How does the speaker describe the experience of solving a question during an interview?
-The speaker compares solving a question during an interview to acting on a stage, where the focus is on demonstrating problem-solving rather than quiet contemplation, requiring the sharing of thought processes and keeping the interviewer engaged.
What does the speaker suggest is necessary for effective interview preparation beyond solving medium-level questions?
-Effective preparation involves practicing with distractions, similar to an interview environment, to get better at solving technical questions in an interview style. Utilizing platforms like Pramp for this practice is recommended.
What is the significance of the 'pyramid' mentioned by the speaker in the context of practicing coding questions?
-The pyramid represents a structured approach to learning, where focusing on foundational topics (the lower building blocks) is crucial as they form the basis for understanding more complex topics and are more likely to appear in interviews.
Why does the speaker advise against focusing solely on finding the fastest or best solution to a problem during practice?
-The speaker advises that the goal of practice should be to find a solution that will pass the interview, emphasizing consistency and effectiveness over finding the shortest or most complex solutions, which may not be necessary to secure a job offer.
How does researching specific questions posted by others benefit interview preparation?
-Researching and practicing questions posted by others, especially those that have appeared in interviews with specific companies, can provide insights into what to expect and prepare for, as some questions may directly match those in actual interviews.
What is the value of understanding the company and engineering work before an interview with a hiring manager?
-Understanding the company and its engineering challenges helps tailor the conversation during the interview, demonstrating interest and insight into the company's work, which can positively influence the hiring manager's perception and potentially secure the offer.
What mindset does the speaker recommend adopting for long-term success in coding interviews?
-The speaker recommends adopting a mindset of consistent practice and patience, treating the learning process as a marathon initially and recognizing that becoming proficient may take a long time but will eventually transition into a sprint with sufficient practice.
Outlines
🌱 Starting Strong in Coding Interviews
The journey of mastering coding interviews begins with understanding where to start amidst the overwhelming amount of information available. Initially struggling with even basic questions, the narrator emphasizes the importance of learning from solutions to develop intuition quickly, especially in the early stages. By dividing practice questions into lists based on difficulty and type, and focusing on learning common solutions before attempting to solve more complex problems, the narrator found a more efficient way to improve. This method may seem controversial, but it's about building intuition and recognizing patterns, which is crucial for performing under the pressure of an interview where thinking time is limited and communication with the interviewer is key.
📈 Advanced Strategies for Coding Interview Success
Achieving success in coding interviews requires more than just solving problems; it demands a strategic approach to learning and practice. Emphasizing quality over quantity, the narrator suggests focusing on common questions and patterns, as well as practicing in conditions that simulate the divided attention of an actual interview. The narrator shares insights from personal experience, including the observation that questions on higher-level topics tend to resemble common practice questions closely, making familiar patterns invaluable. The journey from starting to excel in interviews is a marathon, requiring consistent practice and a mindset prepared for a long-term effort. Ultimately, the goal is to reach a point where interviewing becomes more like a sprint, thanks to the solid foundation built over time.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡intuition
💡interview
💡patterns
💡roadmap
💡consistency
💡hiring manager
💡time
💡solutions
💡pyramid
💡adjustments
Highlights
Learning to code is challenging due to the vast amount of information and knowing where to start.
Initially struggling with easy questions, the speaker invested time and learned through mistakes.
Helping others pass interviews revealed that the initial struggles were part of getting started.
Emphasizes learning solutions and developing intuition for topics to solve questions faster.
Approach to learning binary trees involves making lists of questions and studying solutions before attempting to solve them.
Identifying new patterns through failed attempts helps in learning and moving forward efficiently.
Solving questions in interviews is likened to performing, with the need to engage the interviewer and share thought processes.
Reliance on intuition and familiarity with common solutions is crucial in interviews.
Practicing on platforms like Pramp to simulate real interview conditions is recommended.
The importance of both quality and quantity in practice, following a roadmap of common questions and topics.
Dynamic programming is less commonly encountered in interviews than questions on arrays, trees, backtracking, and priority queues.
Higher level questions in the pyramid of topics tend to be more similar to common questions.
The goal in interviews is to pass, not necessarily to find the best or fastest solution.
Researching and practicing questions posted by others for specific companies can be beneficial.
Preparing for interviews with hiring managers involves understanding the company’s engineering challenges.
Consistent practice is key to becoming good at interviews, with the process described as a marathon initially, then a sprint.
Transcripts
lead code is hard not only because it's
hard to be good enough to solve
questions to land a job at a high-paying
companies but also because it's hard to
know how and exactly where to start when
there is so much information available
when I just got started I couldn't even
solve an easy question well enough to
pass an interview but I had no choice so
I invested lots of time I made lots of
mistakes but also learned a lot fast
forwarding to today after passing many
interviews and helping friends and
random people who reached out to me on
LinkedIn to pass their interviews and
receive offers I realized that back then
I wasn't bad I was just getting
started especially in the beginning you
should put more time into learning
Solutions rather than solving questions
so that you start developing intuition
within that topic more quickly and then
solve questions faster so for example if
I'm now starting to learn binary trees
instead of just choosing a list and then
trying to Sol question by question
question I would make two lists of easy
and medium tree questions starting with
the common ones and then I would
separate each list again into two I will
start with the first list and instead of
trying to solve the question I will go
to the solution and learn the common
solution well after doing that for all
of the questions in that list I will go
to the second list and I'll start
practicing when I land on a question
that I could not come up with an answer
for it can be a one-off or an outlier
but when just starting it usually means
that it's a new pattern I was not
exposed to and I will learn that
solution and move forward rather than
wasting time on trying to solve the
question I know this sounds quite
controversial but give it a try and see
if it also helps you get better at lead
code much more efficiently which is what
matters solving a question during an
interview at least for me feels more
like acting on a stage and the scene is
that you solve a question rather than
actually solving a question there is
reason is is that you don't get to have
even 5 minutes to think quietly and
sketch some ideas you need to entertain
the interviewer well not entertain per
se but you need to keep them engaged
share your thought process and walk them
through what you're doing your attention
is split which makes it really difficult
to think that means I can only rely on
intuition when I'm asked in the first
few minutes I either know what the
answer is thanks to something I've
solved that is at least similar or don't
and in that case I just try to get away
with is asking the interviewer to have
time to think and throw some ideas as
they come until I land on something that
might lead to a solution and usually
interviews will also nudge you towards
the right direction when you voice it so
once you have practiced for long enough
so that you're able to solve medium
level questions if you stop there it
will probably not be enough then you
would need to practice on websites like
pramp and start solving these questions
when your attention is more split
compared to when you solve questions on
your own and get good at solving Technic
questions in an interview style although
over time the more you interview you
will naturally get better at
this it's not about quantity alone nor
quality alone you need both quality
means that you follow a road map that
exposes you to the most common questions
and topics to practice so that you have
a sound starting point this way you can
slowly work your way to expand the
spectrum of questions that you can
intuitively recognize you should spend
your time to practice according to this
pyramid focus on the lower building
blocks since they are the foundation for
learning the upper topics but also are
more likely to be patterns for the types
of questions that you will see during
the interviews for example I've never
been given a question on dynamic
programming whether I interviewed at
Fang a popular startup or a mid-tier
paying company but I have been given a
lot of questions on arrays similar to
the common ones but somewhere on trees
backtracking and priority cues something
additional I've noticed during the 15
plus interviews I've done is that the
more the question you asked is higher
into this pyramid the more similar it is
to common questions in that topic so
when I was asked a question on trees it
was virtually identical to a common tree
question of Thoroughly solved before
which helped me to easily solve the
question during the interview on the
other hand when the question was on a
raise it was more elaborate and not one
to one something I've seen before even
though it was sold using the same
pattern from com questions from before
it required more adjustments which is
why sometimes being asked about less
common topics can make things easier for
you when you had practiced several such
questions make sure that you're not
solving questions for the sake of
solving questions I know it sounds
strange but when I practiced initially I
got caught up with all the community
trying to learn the best or fastest
solution and so on but I was wasting
lots of time when you interview the
solution you need is the solution that
gets you to pass the interview you do it
consistently and that's how you land
offers this rarely means having the
shorter solution or an exotic one that
is better time complexity wise than a
reasonable common solution that is
usually suggested to that question when
you're interviewing there will be
specific posts and lists sometimes even
for smaller companies so research and
practice these questions that others
have posted I've seen more than once a
question I was asked which was identical
to a question someone else posted on a
website like lead code or glass door
with some companies you will have around
with the hiring manager that will
sometimes be technical but often will
also include some of the high level
related to what the company does when
you know you have a around with the
hiring manager do your D diligence about
the company and their engineering work
think about their challenges and things
that they had to overcome and weave that
in the conversation each time I had
around with the hiring manager I could
see how doing this at some point made me
Vibe with the hiring manager and I could
see how so long I don't do awfully on
the technical questions I will have the
offer finally just remember to give
yourself time and consistently practice
before you can really get good it took
me well over a year of practicing each
day with no exceptions to get to a point
where I interview pretty well and can
pass interviews when you start it's a
marathon you will most likely also need
to practice for a very long time at
least if you're like me but afterwards
it will be more like a Sprint where
thanks to all of that practice you can
recall and can quickly get in an
interviewing shape when you need to with
that said thank you so much for watching
and I hope to see you in the next one
[Music]
bye
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