EX-Google Recruiter Reveals Secrets To Never Failing A Tech Interview

Summary

In this video, Farrah, a seasoned technical recruiter and former software engineer, shares invaluable advice for software engineering interviews. She emphasizes the importance of mindset, effective communication, and the ability to handle ambiguity. Farrah provides guidance tailored to various experience levels, highlighting the distinction between programming and software engineering, and stresses the significance of practicality over theoretical efficiency. She also recommends resources like LeetCode, The Tech Interview Handbook, and 'Cracking the Coding Interview' for interview preparation.

Takeaways

• 😀 Farrah, the speaker, is a computer science graduate with experience in graphics programming and technical recruiting for companies like Google, Lyft, and Uber.
• 🧐 To manage interview nerves, shift your mindset to view the interviewer as a future colleague rather than a judge.
• 🤔 When faced with a complex problem in an interview, ask clarifying questions as you would with a colleague to demonstrate your problem-solving approach.
• 🔍 Use the five W's and H (who, what, where, when, why, how) to ask clarifying questions and understand the context behind interview questions.
• 📚 Preparation for software engineering interviews should consider your experience level, with different expectations for each level from entry to senior.
• 🏢 Research the company you're interviewing with to tailor your answers to their systems and expectations, whether it's a startup or a large legacy company.
• 🔄 Understand the difference between programming and software engineering, with the latter focusing on long-term planning, efficiency, and scalability.
• 📈 Practice with medium difficulty questions and focus on fundamentals, as interviewers evaluate candidates as if they were senior engineers regardless of their actual level.
• 💡 Demonstrate characteristics of a senior engineer, such as caring for monitoring, collaborating with non-developers, and understanding the deployment process.
• 🤝 Show your ability to handle ambiguity by asking clarifying questions and considering different trade-offs when given vague problems.
• ⏱ Prioritize practicality and simplicity over optimal time efficiency in your solutions, especially under the time constraints of an interview.
• 👥 Emphasize teamwork by asking collaborative questions and avoid seeking validation from the interviewer, treating them as a colleague.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to prepare software engineers for their interviews by providing advice and guidance that goes beyond basic coding questions and applies to real-world scenarios.

Who is Farrah and why is she qualified to give advice on software engineering interviews?

Farrah is a computer science graduate who specialized in graphics programming and has worked as a technical recruiter for companies like Google, Lyft, Uber, and the New York Times. She has prepped hundreds of candidates for interviews, making her well-qualified to give advice on the subject.

What mindset should a candidate adopt during an interview according to Farrah?

Farrah suggests adopting a mindset where the interviewee sees themselves as speaking to a current colleague they've never met before, which can help calm nerves and lead to better answers.

Why is it important to ask clarifying questions during an interview?

Asking clarifying questions is important because it shows that the candidate is actively engaged in understanding the problem fully before providing an answer, which is a valuable trait in a software engineer.

What are the five W's and the H that Farrah suggests using for asking clarification questions?

The five W's and the H are who, what, where, when, why, and how. These questions help candidates to fully understand the context and details of the problem they are being asked to solve.

How does the level of a software engineer affect their interview preparation?

The level of a software engineer affects the depth and complexity of the systems and issues they are expected to understand. Higher levels require a broader understanding of complex systems and common issues.

What is the difference between programming and software engineering as per the script?

Programming involves writing code and algorithms, while software engineering is about integrating programming over time with considerations for time scale, trade-offs, and long-term maintenance and scalability.

What does Farrah suggest focusing on when practicing for technical interviews?

Farrah suggests focusing on medium-level questions, fundamentals, and understanding the application of solutions rather than just memorizing answers to technical questions.

What are some characteristics of a senior engineer according to the video?

A senior engineer should demonstrate the ability to tackle complexity and ambiguity, have strong teamwork and collaboration skills, effective communication, enthusiasm, and a passion for continuous learning.

What is the importance of defining terms like 'sharding', 'replication', 'latency', 'CAP theorem', and 'optimistic/pessimistic locking' during an interview?

Defining these terms is important because it shows the candidate's understanding of concepts related to large-scale systems, which is crucial for roles that involve dealing with high levels of traffic and complex system architectures.

How should a candidate approach a question with ambiguous requirements during an interview?

A candidate should approach ambiguous questions by asking clarifying questions to define the problem better, considering trade-offs, and verbalizing their thought process for reaching a solution.

What does Farrah suggest about the importance of practicality over optimal time efficiency in interview responses?

Farrah suggests that practicality and simplicity are often more important than the most optimal time-efficient algorithm, especially under the time constraints of an interview, as interviewers prefer a quick and correct solution over a complex one that may not be completed in time.

How should a candidate demonstrate teamwork during an interview?

A candidate should demonstrate teamwork by asking collaborative questions and treating the interviewer as a colleague working together to solve a problem, rather than seeking validation or approval.

What is the focus of behavioral questions in an interview?

Behavioral questions focus on evaluating a candidate's future potential, learning ability, and execution on projects, with an emphasis on 'how' they approach tasks rather than 'what' they have done.

What resources does the video recommend for interview preparation?

The video recommends resources such as LeetCode, The Tech Interview Handbook, Cracking the Coding Interview by Gail McDowell, and the GitHub page called the System Design Primer.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Preparing for Software Engineering Interviews

The speaker, Farrah, introduces the video's purpose: to prepare viewers for software engineering interviews. She emphasizes the need to move beyond basic coding questions and understand the real-world application of these skills. Farrah shares her background in computer science and her experience as a technical recruiter for major companies, positioning herself as a credible source of advice. She also discusses the importance of mindset in interviews, suggesting candidates view the interview as a conversation with a future colleague to reduce nerves and improve responses.

05:03

🔍 Understanding the Interviewer's Perspective

Farrah advises candidates to approach interview problems as they would with a colleague, asking clarifying questions to fully understand the issue at hand. She highlights the importance of this approach, as interviewers often omit information to assess a candidate's problem-solving process. Farrah also discusses the significance of behavioral questions and the use of the five W's and H (who, what, where, when, why, how) to seek clarification. She stresses the need to understand the interviewer's intent behind each question.

10:03

📚 Tailoring Interview Preparation Based on Experience Level

The video script outlines the different levels of software engineering roles and how interview preparation should vary accordingly. Farrah explains that as candidates progress in their careers, they are expected to demonstrate a deeper understanding of complex systems and common issues. She advises researching the company's systems and tailoring interview responses to align with those systems. Farrah also differentiates between programming and software engineering, emphasizing the long-term planning and efficiency required in the latter.

🛠 Practical Tips for Interview Success

Farrah provides practical advice for interview preparation, recommending a focus on medium difficulty questions and fundamentals. She advises against solely relying on whiteboard questions and instead suggests a balanced approach to practicing. Farrah also discusses the importance of demonstrating the ability to handle complexity and ambiguity, as well as the characteristics of a senior engineer, such as monitoring, alerting, and understanding the deployment process. She encourages candidates to verbalize their thought process during interviews, as this is often more valuable than the final answer.

🤝 Teamwork and Communication in Interviews

The speaker emphasizes the importance of teamwork and communication during interviews, suggesting that candidates should interact with interviewers as if they were colleagues working on a problem together. She advises against asking for validation and instead recommends asking collaborative questions. Farrah also touches on behavioral questions, focusing on how candidates executed on projects and explored new technologies, highlighting the importance of discussing past experiences in terms of the decisions and trade-offs made.

🏢 System Design and Additional Resources

Farrah discusses the importance of system design in interviews, which involves frameworks, APIs, and design patterns rather than coding. She mentions scalability and provides a resource, the System Design Primer, for further study. Additionally, she lists several resources for interview preparation, including LeetCode, the Tech Interview Handbook, and 'Cracking the Coding Interview' by Gail McDowell. Farrah concludes by encouraging viewers to like and subscribe for more content.

Keywords

💡Software Engineering Interviews

Software engineering interviews are the process by which candidates are assessed for their technical skills and suitability for a software engineering role. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the real-world application of coding questions during these interviews, suggesting that preparation should go beyond just technical knowledge to include mindset and communication skills.

💡Mindset

Mindset refers to the mental attitude or approach one has towards a task or situation. The video suggests shifting the mindset from being nervous in an interview to viewing it as a conversation with a future colleague, which can help alleviate stress and lead to better performance.

💡Clarifying Questions

Clarifying questions are those asked to gain a better understanding of a problem or situation. The script advises interviewees to ask such questions to demonstrate their problem-solving approach and to ensure they fully understand the issue at hand before providing a solution.

💡Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions are a type of interview question that seeks to understand how a candidate acted or would act in specific situations. The video script mentions these as a way for interviewers to assess a candidate's past behavior and predict future performance.

💡Technical Recruiting

Technical recruiting involves finding and hiring candidates with technical skills for roles in technology companies. The speaker's background in technical recruiting gives them insight into what companies look for in candidates and how to prepare for interviews effectively.

💡Complex Systems

Complex systems in the context of the video refer to the intricate and interrelated components of software that experienced software engineers are expected to understand. The script suggests that higher-level engineers should demonstrate an understanding of these systems and the common issues that arise from them.

💡Time Efficiency

Time efficiency in the video script pertains to the ability to solve problems within the time constraints of an interview. It emphasizes choosing practical solutions that can be explained and implemented quickly over theoretically optimal but time-consuming approaches.

💡Practicality

Practicality is the quality of being concerned with what is actually done or practical rather than theoretical. The video advises candidates to focus on practical solutions that can be communicated and implemented within the constraints of an interview setting.

💡Teamwork

Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way. The script encourages interviewees to demonstrate teamwork by asking collaborative questions and treating the interviewer as a colleague working on a problem together.

💡System Design

System design in the video refers to the process of planning and constructing a system or a set of components to achieve a particular purpose. It is a critical skill for software engineers, especially at higher levels, where understanding frameworks, APIs, and design patterns is essential.

💡Ambiguity

Ambiguity in the context of the video is the lack of clarity or certainty in a problem or situation. Interviewers may intentionally present ambiguous questions to assess how candidates handle uncertainty and work towards a solution.

Highlights

The video is aimed at preparing software engineers for interviews with advice not commonly found in other resources.

The speaker, Farrah, has a background in computer science and experience as a technical recruiter for major companies.

A shift in mindset is suggested to view interviewers as future colleagues rather than authority figures to reduce nerves.

Interviewers may intentionally omit information to test a candidate's ability to ask clarifying questions.

Understanding the five W's and H (who, what, where, when, why, how) is crucial for asking clarifying questions.

Preparation for software engineering interviews should consider the level of experience and the type of company.

Startups versus legacy companies have different expectations for software development and stability.

The difference between programming and software engineering is highlighted, emphasizing long-term planning and scalability.

Practicing medium difficulty questions is recommended over easy or hard questions for interview preparation.

Fundamentals are key, as interviewers evaluate candidates as if they were senior engineers regardless of their actual level.

Senior engineers should demonstrate an ability to handle complexity, ambiguity, and teamwork.

Junior developers are expected to learn from senior developers and understand the consequences of their actions.

Defining technical terms related to system design and handling high traffic is important for certain roles.

The interview process assesses the candidate's problem-solving process, not just the final answer.

Practicality in solutions is valued over optimal time efficiency due to the constraints of an interview setting.

Teamwork is demonstrated through collaborative questioning and treating the interviewer as a colleague.

Behavioral questions focus on future potential and learning ability rather than past experiences.

System design questions assess knowledge of frameworks, APIs, design patterns, and scalability.

Additional resources such as 'LeetCode', 'The Tech Interview Handbook', and 'Cracking the Coding Interview' are recommended for preparation.

Transcripts

if you're watching this video it's

probably because I sent it to you now if

I didn't send this to you hello it's

time to put down your coding questions

because we need to get you ready for

your software engineering interviews

I've been prepping Engineers for their

interviews for many years and I'm here

to give you advice that you won't find

in many other YouTube videos because

most of the prep videos on YouTube are

made for entry level to junior level

Engineers which is helpful but you

really need to have a broader

understanding of why you're grinding out

coding questions and how those questions

apply to the real world in today's video

I'm going to tell you a little bit about

myself so you know why I'm qualified to

help you and then I'll give you General

interview prep advice and lastly I'll

give guidance for all software engineers

at every experience level including some

mindset work so who am I hello I'm

Farrah I hold a bachelor's degree in

computer science from the University of

North Texas where I specialize in

graphics programming as a soft engineer

I wrote binarization algorithms that

were able to read text within images and

video then convert that text into

machine readable search strings and

documents I ended up leaving engineering

and pursued other fields of work which

led me to work in technical recruiting

I've worked as a technical recruiter for

Google Lyft Uber Tick Tock the New York

Times and I am currently an active

recruiter who works for a successful

dating app called dillmill I've

recruited and prepped hundreds if not

thousands of candidates and helped them

successfully pass their interviews so

let's start with prepping your mindset

when you go into an interview you're

probably nervous I know I used to get

super nervous and because I was nervous

I would say things or do things I

normally wouldn't say or do so to help

with nerves here's what I want you to do

shift your mindset from thinking that

you're in an interview and instead think

of yourself as speaking to a current

colleague that you've never met before

this will shift your mindset from

thinking that you need to impress the

inner interviewer and instead imagine

that this person may in fact be someone

you end up working with in the future

which will have a calming effect and

lead you to giving better answers now

this next piece of advice is intuitive

but most people forget to do this during

their interviews if your interviewer

gives you a complex problem then here's

what you should do remember you're

imagining that this interviewer is a

colleague now if a real colleague came

up to you to ask you a question about a

problem that they were having would you

immediately give them an answer probably

not what you'd probably do is ask

clarifying questions in order to

understand the problem that they're

asking you and then you give them an

answer I want you to do the same thing

in your interview sometimes during

interviews interviewers purposefully

leave out information that you need in

order to give the best answer because

they want to see if you are going to ask

clarifying questions this is especially

true when an interviewer asks you

behavioral questions behavioral

questions are questions where the

interviewer asks you questions based on

how you acted or would act in a specific

situation what kinds of questions should

you ask for clarification I like to use

the five W's and the H who what where

when why and how now really try to

understand the why behind why they would

ask you this question and then take it

from there so now let's pivot and talk

about specific ways to prepare for your

software interviews how you prepare for

your interview will depend on your

experience level which we call leveling

the various levels for an individual

contributor are entry level junior level

mid-level senior level and stock level

the higher your level the more you'll be

expected to understand complex systems

and common issues that would come up so

you're shifting from being a programmer

into a software developer now before we

start preparing you for the technical

piece it's time to do some research on

the companies that you're interviewing

with because this will have an impact on

the answers that you should give in your

interview are you in interviewing at a

startup a mid-level company large Legacy

company this is important to know

because your answers to questions may be

tailored to the type of systems the

company has because FYI most

interviewers are evaluating your answers

against the systems that they are

working on not necessarily the ones

you've worked on so for example startups

will be able to make quick pivots and

you'll be expected to write more lines

of code where one wrong move could make

an entire system come crashing down

whereas a legacy company will have an

older code base where many other

Engineers have gone in and manipulated

that code but an error is less likely to

happen so when it comes to the

nitty-gritty of prep remember there is a

difference between programming and

software engineering programming is

writing code and algorithms however

software engineering is programming

integrated over time and there are three

critical differences between programming

and software engineering time scale and

the trade-offs when software Engineers

work on projects they have to think

about how the software will change over

a period of time they need to plan ahead

and and make sure that the software

they're creating will last a long time

in a software engineering organization

it's important to focus on making the

software as efficient and scalable as

possible this is because software

Engineers often work on very complex

problems and it's important to make sure

that the software can handle all of the

demands that will be placed on it so yes

going through technical questions that

you find in leak code or the book

cracking the coding interview are

important but how you apply those

Solutions is even more important so now

let's pivot and talk about how you can

practice remember don't only focus on

whiteboard question they are helpful but

only working these will not get you

through the interview process lead code

is a great resource to help you prepare

easy questions are good for warm-ups

hard questions really aren't practical

for interviews and I've never seen one

asked in an interview not that it can't

happen but I've never seen it instead I

want you to focus on medium questions

solve at least 25 medium Quest questions

although I encourage you to practice as

many questions as possible focus on

fundamentals your interview will not be

focused just on leak code type questions

but it's still important to review

fundamentals interviewers will evaluate

you as though you are a senior engineer

no matter your leveling before I get

into this topic if you're enjoying this

video give it a like And subscribe

because it really does help my channel

to become a senior engineer you must be

able to demonstrate this ability by

showing that you can tackle complexity

and ambiguity teamwork collaboration

communication enthusiasm and a passion

for learning here are a few specific

characteristics I like to see in senior

Engineers someone who cares about

monitoring and alerting not just unit

testing can negotiate with

non-developers especially product

managers and operation staff knows how

the software will degrade if various

systems are not working and lastly

someone who understands the deployment

process really well now Junior

developers are are often supervised by

senior developers and it's the senior

developers who deal with the

consequences of the actions of the

junior developers if a company you're

interviewing for has a huge amount of

concurrent traffic then they would want

to know how you would deal with that

some terms you should be able to Define

are charting replication latency cat

theorem and optimistic pessimistic

locking some systems that accomplish

this are Amazon's Dynamo Google spanner

and bigtable when an interviewer asks

you a question don't just regurgitate

the answer verbalize your process for

reaching a solution because oftentimes

in software engineering there is no

predefined solution you have to work

towards a solution and the process to

get to the solution often requires a lot

of analysis balancing trade-offs And

discussing Alternatives and accepting

feedback the interviewer wants to know

how you reach the answer not just if you

reach the answer how do you trade off

time and space how do you present

alternative Solutions also key keep in

mind about any edge cases that could

come up interviewers that Fang or larger

companies are primarily looking to see

if you can make reasonable architectural

and design decisions for large-scale

complex systems and still know how to

write software despite presumably

spending more time in meetings design

reviews paperwork and management than

actually coding over the past few years

something else to keep in mind is that

the larger the company you work for the

less lines of code you actually get to

write if you are hired at any level

because there are different levels of

bureaucracy but the systems you work

with are much more likely to function in

a vaguely reasonable way because of the

bureaucratic Precision that went into

making them interviewers are definitely

evaluating ability to communicate on

complex technical topics specifically

they want to know that you can

communicate clearly efficiently and

without being egocentric when mentoring

Junior and engineer so now let's talk

about ambiguity answering a bunch of

questions about data structures and

algorithms is great but if you don't

know how to apply them to an ambiguous

question where you are not given the

method signature what the inputs and

outputs are and what the data format is

going to look like then you'll most

likely fail interviewers will

intentionally give a vague and ambiguous

question to see how you tackle that

scenario how to tackle ambiguity is one

of the parameters that you're going to

be graded on your interviewer may ask

you a question like can you come up with

an alternative solution to the problem

with a different set of trade-offs so

you had better be prepared to think of

what trade-offs would make sense and

this is where you need to ask clarifying

questions so now let's talk about time

efficiency let's replace time efficiency

with practicality so let's say

hypothetically you get a question about

quick select there are a number of

answers that you can choose from you can

use brute force you can create a heap or

you can implement the partitioning

algorithm partitioning is the most

optimal format but it's too difficult to

write because it takes too much time to

solve if you use this as an answer you

may not be able to solve it during your

interview interviewers would rather you

use a less optimal approach such as

using a heap and then quickly mention a

more optimal algorithm and why you're

not going to use it and it's because

it's too complicated due to the time

constraints of the interview so in this

case it would be better to use a Heap

Sort because it can be written much

quicker recognize practicality and

simplicity over always coming up with

the most optimal time efficient

algorithm now let's talk about teamwork

when asking questions ask questions as

though this is a colleague and you're

solving a problem together don't ask

questions of your interviewer that ask

for any type of validation like is this

the right solution demonstrate teamwork

by asking collaborative questions as

though this person is your colleague

sometimes interviewers just want you to

answer the question and if that's the

case then just move forward and answer

the question now I'd like to touch on

behavioral questions you are not being

evaluated as much about your past

experience as you are being evaluated

about your future potential especially

your ability to learn and execute on a

project it's about the how more than the

what some questions an interviewer may

ask you could include how did you

execute on projects how is this

accomplished how do you explore new

technologies so be prepared to discuss

prior projects with a mindset that it's

about the trade-offs you made and why

you made them now let's talk about

system design questions it's less about

coding and more about Frameworks apis

and design patterns this section is the

architectural portion of how to bring a

system together scalability could play a

factor as well there is a great GitHub

page called the system design primer

that I'll link in the description so

that you can use it to help you with

this section and lastly here are some

additional resources that you can use to

help you prepare for your interviews

note I am not sponsored by any of these

I'm just sharing them with you I've

mentioned it a few times leak code leak

code is the gold standard in online

preparation they have a huge database of

questions to choose from and pass for

preparing for your interviews for most

of the popular tech companies the tech

interview handbook is a guide that was

created by former Google Engineers that

gives you a step-by-step guide on how to

prepare and lots of great tools to help

you on your coding Journey cracking the

coding interview which is a book by Gail

McDowell is a classic prep book that you

should read cover to cover it's been

around four years and you may be able to

borrow a copy from a friend or your

local library now if you struggle with

answering the common interview question

Tell me about yourself take a look at

this video where I give you a

mind-blowing technique most people never

use