How to pass your 1:1 technical leetcode interviews
Read this after you're done with your OA and phone calls, and are moving into the technical round. A compilation of the best advice i've watched & read from Youtube/Reddit
After you’ve passed the OA and phone interviews, it may be time to do the technical 1:1. When preparing for this stage, it’s best to realize that your interviewer wants to you succeed and that they will work through the given problem with you if you don’t understand or need help.
Here's 3 tips that put me in the right mindset before I did my technical interview. I can guarantee that reading these 3 tips will put you ahead of others when on the interviewing stage.
With the previous tip in mind, pretend you’re working through the given problem together with the interviewer. The technical problem is not a quiz or a test, and the goal of this interview is to see how you collaborate with others and understand how you solve problems. An advice I read from reddit when researching “How to pass your technical interviews” is to pretend you’re back in grade-school and a friend/classmate is asking for help on their homework assignment. You, the kind person you are, decide to step over and help them. Now apply this same concept back in present time, this friend/classmate is the interviewer and you, the kind person you are, is helping again (in solving the current problem, not to be best-friends).
Speak your mind and walk through your problem, I learned this during Codepath’s technical interview prep course which basically teaches you the UMPIRE method but a shorter version of it. First Understand the given problem with examples and from the writing, give your examples to let the interviewer know whether you’re on the right track or not. Then Pseudocode a solution, again iterate with the interviewer to make sure you’re on the right track, and you can either run through 2-3 test cases on this step or not. Finally, Code your pseudocode solution.
Watch videos on how other people do technical 1:1, learn how they speak and their transparency when approaching a problem. A lot of it has to do more with behavior than technical.
Resources:
Unfortunately can’t find the reddit post I mentioned in #1
Software Engineering Job Interview – Full Mock Interview on Youtube (she does a fantastic job, I’ve rewatched this video a couple of times).
I remember when I first watched this video, I made it to like minute 10-15 and exited because I thought no way I was fit to be like her. The problem was way too tough and I couldn’t process the problem like she was able to.
But after a bunch of Leetcode practice & speaking my mind/practicing the tip from #2 during my own Leetcode sessions, did my confidence + knowledge in approach for solving a problem boost.
And it wasn’t until a few months later when I rewatched the video again (a week before my technical) did I actually felt prepared / able to make it through the entire video.
Technical Interview Mock w/ Neetcode & FryingPan on Youtube (funny video, but another example of speaking your mind when interviewing)
Asking clarifying questions & making sure you’re on the right path with the interviewer before coding.