1 00:00:00,025 --> 00:00:04,085 [MUSIC] 2 00:00:04,085 --> 00:00:06,510 All right, welcome, everybody. 3 00:00:06,510 --> 00:00:09,780 We have a great show for you today. 4 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:14,570 Welcome to How to Prepare for the Technical Interview. 5 00:00:14,570 --> 00:00:18,960 My name is Ryan Carson and I'm the founder and CEO of Treehouse, and I'm so 6 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,150 glad that you all decide to join us today. 7 00:00:22,150 --> 00:00:26,796 Before we begin, I'd like to recognize that there is a lot of work to 8 00:00:26,796 --> 00:00:32,150 do that needs to be done to make the tech industry more inclusive. 9 00:00:32,150 --> 00:00:37,746 A survey from the US Equal Opportunity Commission Bureau in 2019, 10 00:00:37,746 --> 00:00:42,783 estimated that Black, Latino and indigenous people made up for 11 00:00:42,783 --> 00:00:49,570 only 16% of all tech workers while they make up 33% of the population. 12 00:00:49,570 --> 00:00:52,637 While not all of that 33% is of working age, 13 00:00:52,637 --> 00:00:56,940 there's still an obvious employment disparity. 14 00:00:56,940 --> 00:01:01,770 At Treehouse, we are taking steps toward making the industry more inclusive. 15 00:01:01,770 --> 00:01:05,490 We want to create pathways for everyone to succeed. 16 00:01:05,490 --> 00:01:07,940 We believe there is a place in tech for 17 00:01:07,940 --> 00:01:11,350 all people to thrive as their most authentic self. 18 00:01:12,370 --> 00:01:17,777 Our hope is that you will help us to empower more people with tools so 19 00:01:17,777 --> 00:01:21,640 that you can embark on your job journey. 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,485 If you would like to learn more about our commitment to inclusion, 21 00:01:25,485 --> 00:01:28,107 please visit teamtreehouse.com/about. 22 00:01:28,107 --> 00:01:32,926 Thousands of Treehouse students are now taking part in our 100 days of 23 00:01:32,926 --> 00:01:34,117 code challenge. 24 00:01:34,117 --> 00:01:40,480 Transform your life by committing to learn for 30 minutes a day for just 100 days. 25 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,309 You'll have the support of the Treehouse community of students working with you. 26 00:01:43,309 --> 00:01:49,560 Head to teamtreehouse.com/100daysofcode to start your challenge. 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,158 I also wanna point out, there is a captioning link provided in 28 00:01:54,158 --> 00:01:58,600 the reception for those who would like a live transcript of today's event. 29 00:01:59,730 --> 00:02:05,930 And now I'm happy to present Abraham Paniagua as the guest speaker for today. 30 00:02:05,930 --> 00:02:08,709 Abraham is a senior software engineer at Grail, 31 00:02:08,709 --> 00:02:12,590 a company that is working on early cancer detection. 32 00:02:12,590 --> 00:02:16,730 He previously worked at Microsoft, where he helped build a recommendation engine 33 00:02:16,730 --> 00:02:20,580 that was used to send recommendations to millions of customers. 34 00:02:20,580 --> 00:02:25,348 For this Abraham used a batch and stream processing infrastructure to manage 35 00:02:25,348 --> 00:02:29,430 logging, user events and system level metrics. 36 00:02:29,430 --> 00:02:33,330 Prior to that, Abraham worked at NASA as a network engineer. 37 00:02:33,330 --> 00:02:37,827 There he managed and applied security best practices to a logical and 38 00:02:37,827 --> 00:02:44,160 physical network of more than 500 routers, switches and security software. 39 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,225 As a senior IT engineer at Amazon, Abraham was the tech lead for 40 00:02:48,225 --> 00:02:51,740 large scale IT infrastructure projects. 41 00:02:51,740 --> 00:02:55,459 Abraham served in the United States Marine Corps, where he was responsible for 42 00:02:55,459 --> 00:02:57,540 training a team of Marines. 43 00:02:57,540 --> 00:03:03,400 He also assisted other fellow Marines to achieve their personal and academic goals. 44 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:05,225 Abraham is a world traveler and 45 00:03:05,225 --> 00:03:09,167 enjoys volunteering his time teaching people the joys of coding. 46 00:03:09,167 --> 00:03:11,940 Everyone, please welcome Abraham. 47 00:03:11,940 --> 00:03:13,460 >> Hello. 48 00:03:13,460 --> 00:03:14,430 >> It's good to have you here. 49 00:03:15,430 --> 00:03:17,633 >> Yeah, nice to see you, nice to see everybody. 50 00:03:17,633 --> 00:03:21,790 I recognize some faces already, yeah. 51 00:03:21,790 --> 00:03:26,590 >> Thanks for joining, I know you're busy and your time is valuable, and 52 00:03:26,590 --> 00:03:29,870 I really appreciate you spend some time with us. 53 00:03:29,870 --> 00:03:34,550 I can see we've already got 170 people joining us. 54 00:03:34,550 --> 00:03:37,109 Hello, Aaron, Patricia. 55 00:03:37,109 --> 00:03:39,010 Good to see you all. 56 00:03:39,010 --> 00:03:42,585 Feel free to in the chat, Abraham and I are gonna be chatting and talking, but 57 00:03:42,585 --> 00:03:44,340 we're here for you all. 58 00:03:44,340 --> 00:03:46,700 So make sure to ask your questions in the chat. 59 00:03:46,700 --> 00:03:49,756 Liz, who did all the hard work to organize this event, 60 00:03:49,756 --> 00:03:54,424 she's gonna be grabbing your questions and making sure that I ask them to Abraham. 61 00:03:54,424 --> 00:04:00,266 But please, chit chat in the comments, share your LinkedIn profiles, 62 00:04:00,266 --> 00:04:03,920 whatever is helpful to you and don't be shy. 63 00:04:05,140 --> 00:04:08,380 So, let's get started. 64 00:04:08,380 --> 00:04:11,580 Abraham, I read your intro, but why don't you tell us just a little bit more 65 00:04:11,580 --> 00:04:13,690 about yourself and what you're doing right now? 66 00:04:14,730 --> 00:04:15,460 >> Yeah, absolutely. 67 00:04:15,460 --> 00:04:20,120 So I'm currently working at Grail and we're working on on cancer tests. 68 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,960 It's kind of a cool, bioinformatics company. 69 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,990 I've previously I've worked in social media products at Microsoft, 70 00:04:28,990 --> 00:04:31,886 very similar to like Slack, or Facebook for work. 71 00:04:31,886 --> 00:04:36,434 And as you mentioned, I also have experience at Amazon, 72 00:04:36,434 --> 00:04:39,579 where I let the infrastructure build. 73 00:04:39,579 --> 00:04:41,349 So let me type amazon.com, 74 00:04:41,349 --> 00:04:45,409 there's warehouses with people that kinda ship your products, 75 00:04:45,409 --> 00:04:50,667 there's a lot of automation, a lot of IT infrastructure that's involved in that. 76 00:04:50,667 --> 00:04:55,320 And for all these careers or all these jobs that I had, 77 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:59,262 I've worked with very intelligent people. 78 00:04:59,262 --> 00:05:04,130 Like they have various backgrounds, and I feel like having a diversity of thought, 79 00:05:04,130 --> 00:05:08,190 or that diverse backgrounds will help you kind of achieve your goals. 80 00:05:08,190 --> 00:05:12,795 And so whether you want to go into bioinformatics to work in social media 81 00:05:12,795 --> 00:05:14,957 products or work in other areas. 82 00:05:14,957 --> 00:05:20,520 I feel that interviewing is like the first face of that journey for a lot of people. 83 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:21,100 >> Amen. 84 00:05:21,100 --> 00:05:25,793 >> And that's why I'm very passionate of translate providers as my words of 85 00:05:25,793 --> 00:05:30,574 wisdom or like, again in my stories is how to help people out and do better. 86 00:05:30,574 --> 00:05:31,193 >> Thank you. Yes, 87 00:05:31,193 --> 00:05:34,190 the interview part is definitely scary. 88 00:05:34,190 --> 00:05:37,970 So I'm glad you're gonna give some people some great advice today. 89 00:05:37,970 --> 00:05:41,480 The first question is about the dreaded whiteboarding session, 90 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,532 that can happen during an interview. 91 00:05:43,532 --> 00:05:50,130 Tell us what you know about being asked to code on the whiteboard interview. 92 00:05:50,130 --> 00:05:51,818 What kind of questions you might get, 93 00:05:51,818 --> 00:05:55,320 really anything you think folks need to know about that part of the interview. 94 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,258 >> Yeah, the first thing is to kind of understand the context of a whiteboard, 95 00:06:00,258 --> 00:06:03,456 understanding that whenever somebody is asking you a quote, 96 00:06:03,456 --> 00:06:05,377 unquote whiteboarding interview. 97 00:06:05,377 --> 00:06:08,463 They're trying to get signal from you, like, 98 00:06:08,463 --> 00:06:13,910 as far as how well you communicate, how well you think about the problem. 99 00:06:13,910 --> 00:06:18,353 And then from that, they will use it to gauge whether they 100 00:06:18,353 --> 00:06:22,940 want you to be working next to them, essentially. 101 00:06:22,940 --> 00:06:25,057 And in order to prepare for that whiteboard interview, 102 00:06:25,057 --> 00:06:27,380 you need to understand it's just like a test. 103 00:06:27,380 --> 00:06:29,676 The same way you might take a GRE test or SAT test, 104 00:06:29,676 --> 00:06:33,210 there's a lot of material out there that you can prepare for. 105 00:06:33,210 --> 00:06:35,520 And that's why I've seen a lot of candidates or 106 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,500 a set of candidates be very successful. 107 00:06:37,500 --> 00:06:41,461 Because certain universities are certain sets of I guess, 108 00:06:41,461 --> 00:06:46,779 curriculums if like, let's say that you go to like a brown or MIT, or Harvard. 109 00:06:46,779 --> 00:06:50,610 They actually have classes on teaching people how to get like, 110 00:06:50,610 --> 00:06:54,190 how to test very well on those particular problems. 111 00:06:54,190 --> 00:06:58,990 So you don't necessarily need to go to those schools to test well. 112 00:06:58,990 --> 00:07:04,590 But what you do need to do is Google like, how do you leak code better? 113 00:07:04,590 --> 00:07:05,610 Or how do you whiteboard better? 114 00:07:05,610 --> 00:07:10,453 And there's this actually strategies, and techniques, instead of 115 00:07:10,453 --> 00:07:15,718 questions that you can kind of go through to get to actually prepare better. 116 00:07:15,718 --> 00:07:19,825 It usually take also, it takes around one to three months to achieve a high success 117 00:07:19,825 --> 00:07:23,354 rate for companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon. 118 00:07:23,354 --> 00:07:27,914 And you need to treat your preparation as you would treat 119 00:07:27,914 --> 00:07:30,444 any other academic endeavor. 120 00:07:30,444 --> 00:07:35,810 Or even I'll say like kind of like running a marathon. 121 00:07:35,810 --> 00:07:38,120 You need to have a strategy when you wake up. 122 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,133 You say today I'm gonna solve ten problems, or 123 00:07:40,133 --> 00:07:42,250 I'm going to solve eight problems. 124 00:07:42,250 --> 00:07:44,400 And you should have a whiteboard, right? 125 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:49,351 Like, I have a whiteboard, and you should write down your questions and 126 00:07:49,351 --> 00:07:51,780 then grind it through them. 127 00:07:51,780 --> 00:07:52,704 >> So practice, practice. 128 00:07:53,870 --> 00:07:56,521 >> Yeah, and what has helped me out is finding people, 129 00:07:56,521 --> 00:08:00,257 we're kind of going through the same process, because whiteboarding, 130 00:08:00,257 --> 00:08:04,173 interviewing, or interviewing in general can be kind of an isolating task, 131 00:08:04,173 --> 00:08:06,730 especially when you have failures. 132 00:08:06,730 --> 00:08:08,474 And so finding that body or 133 00:08:08,474 --> 00:08:13,248 finding that working group that you can kind of bounce ideas from with. 134 00:08:13,248 --> 00:08:19,501 That thing is very vital for your sanity and for your success, right? 135 00:08:19,501 --> 00:08:26,688 That way you can treat it as a test that you can take multiple times. 136 00:08:26,688 --> 00:08:27,403 >> Right. 137 00:08:27,403 --> 00:08:31,514 >> Let's say you apply to Amazon, you take the test, you bomb it. 138 00:08:31,514 --> 00:08:35,465 Facebook is there, Google is there, Team Treehouse is there, 139 00:08:35,465 --> 00:08:39,928 there's all these other companies that you kind of try out your skills, 140 00:08:39,928 --> 00:08:42,000 your interviewing skills with. 141 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,373 >> So your net said, 142 00:08:43,373 --> 00:08:48,325 is it one to three months of full time preparation and practice? 143 00:08:48,325 --> 00:08:54,540 How many hours a week are you recommending folks prep for the whiteboard part? 144 00:08:55,570 --> 00:09:00,431 >> Yeah, so if, I would say usually you should have around 100 questions down, 145 00:09:00,431 --> 00:09:06,130 pat, meaning, like, let's say you have never seen a leak code question before. 146 00:09:06,130 --> 00:09:07,223 From that moment on, 147 00:09:07,223 --> 00:09:11,180 getting to 100 questions usually takes around one to three months, why? 148 00:09:11,180 --> 00:09:15,810 Because initially you'll struggle with understanding what is it asking, 149 00:09:15,810 --> 00:09:19,280 what's the technique to actually solve it. 150 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:20,940 And you'll be slowing your language of choice. 151 00:09:20,940 --> 00:09:26,792 So let's say you're using Python, but you forget how to do like string manipulation 152 00:09:26,792 --> 00:09:31,923 or some other type of data structures, you forget how to be fluent with it. 153 00:09:31,923 --> 00:09:36,770 Then initial ramp up, it will vary from person to person. 154 00:09:36,770 --> 00:09:38,930 So that's why I say one to three months. 155 00:09:38,930 --> 00:09:42,523 Some persons are already be very skilled, might need a little bit less of a ramp-up. 156 00:09:42,523 --> 00:09:46,087 And some other person might need a full ramp-up because maybe that's not what 157 00:09:46,087 --> 00:09:47,830 you're doing day to day. 158 00:09:47,830 --> 00:09:48,400 >> Got it. 159 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,889 And you mentioned it but is there a specific website folks can go to that will 160 00:09:52,889 --> 00:09:55,040 give them a good list of questions? 161 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,859 >> Yeah, so leakcode.com is what I recommend, 162 00:09:59,859 --> 00:10:02,740 that is I think the gold standard for. 163 00:10:04,250 --> 00:10:05,820 [INAUDIBLE] Your question back. 164 00:10:05,820 --> 00:10:07,080 Yeah. >> Okay, cool. 165 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:07,670 >> Yeah. 166 00:10:07,670 --> 00:10:08,180 >> Okay. 167 00:10:08,180 --> 00:10:10,660 Thanks, and I saw you popped it in the chat. 168 00:10:10,660 --> 00:10:11,320 Hey, Kevin. 169 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:12,170 Hello, Michael. 170 00:10:12,170 --> 00:10:13,860 Thanks for joining us. 171 00:10:13,860 --> 00:10:15,830 And thanks for joining us, Rudy. 172 00:10:15,830 --> 00:10:20,335 Fabiana, appreciate folks sharing their LinkedIn profiles, too. 173 00:10:20,335 --> 00:10:23,329 And if you have questions for Abraham, specifically on preparing for 174 00:10:23,329 --> 00:10:25,850 the tech interview, please put them in now. 175 00:10:25,850 --> 00:10:29,900 And we'll try to get through as many of the questions as we can. 176 00:10:29,900 --> 00:10:31,950 Here's one, is LeetCode better than HackerRank? 177 00:10:33,260 --> 00:10:35,670 >> Yeah, I think both are good. 178 00:10:35,670 --> 00:10:40,679 The advantages over LeetCode is that people actually post their experiences 179 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:45,470 at a company, very similar to like what you would get in Reddit. 180 00:10:45,470 --> 00:10:47,458 And so you will get more authentic experiences, 181 00:10:47,458 --> 00:10:50,600 somebody who will be like, I got this very difficult question. 182 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:52,670 This is how I solved it. 183 00:10:52,670 --> 00:10:54,575 And many times you can get a feel for 184 00:10:54,575 --> 00:10:57,920 a company like the type of questions that they asked. 185 00:10:57,920 --> 00:10:59,020 >> Got it. 186 00:10:59,020 --> 00:11:01,272 >> Yeah, and in HackerRank, what's the other, 187 00:11:01,272 --> 00:11:04,083 HackerRank, is that what- >> They just asked about LeetCode versus 188 00:11:04,083 --> 00:11:05,070 HackerRank. 189 00:11:05,070 --> 00:11:09,831 >> Yeah, and then HackerRank is like they have more structured approach to 190 00:11:09,831 --> 00:11:11,949 asking you the same questions. 191 00:11:11,949 --> 00:11:18,332 So I say use both, and don't be afraid to kind of, just search online for 192 00:11:18,332 --> 00:11:23,057 other resources but don't get distracted, right? 193 00:11:23,057 --> 00:11:25,430 Also just use one or two resources. 194 00:11:25,430 --> 00:11:27,010 I'm trying to grind through it. 195 00:11:27,010 --> 00:11:28,234 Yeah. 196 00:11:28,234 --> 00:11:30,240 >> One more, Kate mentioned CodeWars. 197 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:37,330 >> I think CodeWars is kind of cool too, it kind of cater like a gamify things. 198 00:11:37,330 --> 00:11:40,828 But like I say, like don't get too distracted like find one resource, 199 00:11:40,828 --> 00:11:44,840 and try to be consistent with it, like the same way you might find a gym. 200 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,510 And like which gym is better like 24-Hour Fitness or like some other gyms. 201 00:11:48,510 --> 00:11:49,653 >> Pick one. 202 00:11:49,653 --> 00:11:55,440 >> Yeah, pick one and just exercise, and find a time that works for you. 203 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,520 >> Cool. >> I know when I was working full time, 204 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:00,685 I would go to the library, and 205 00:12:00,685 --> 00:12:04,683 for two to three hours I would go through the problems. 206 00:12:04,683 --> 00:12:10,874 When I was kind of working towards finding a full-time role when I was unemployed or 207 00:12:10,874 --> 00:12:14,952 if unemployed or whatever, what do you wanna call it? 208 00:12:14,952 --> 00:12:17,425 I would set up a strategy where it's at four hours in the morning and 209 00:12:17,425 --> 00:12:18,940 then one hour in the evening. 210 00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:24,215 And during the other time, I would focus on my mental game and 211 00:12:24,215 --> 00:12:28,050 my gym time, and applying to jobs, right? 212 00:12:28,050 --> 00:12:30,933 Cuz whenever you're interviewing or whenever you're preparing, 213 00:12:30,933 --> 00:12:33,814 you're actually, you don't have mental energy for other things, 214 00:12:33,814 --> 00:12:36,870 such as applying for actual job or taking phone screens. 215 00:12:36,870 --> 00:12:37,694 >> Awesome. 216 00:12:37,694 --> 00:12:42,040 >> That is something you need to kind of put into your schedule. 217 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:44,510 >> Cool, love it, yeah. 218 00:12:44,510 --> 00:12:50,555 You're basically saying, pick a prep site and commit the time consistently everyday, 219 00:12:50,555 --> 00:12:53,950 and just realize it's just like going to the gym. 220 00:12:53,950 --> 00:12:57,685 You're just gonna have to pick a gym and put in time for 221 00:12:57,685 --> 00:13:00,510 one to three months till you're ready. 222 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:03,800 >> Yeah, absolutely, it is painful. 223 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,968 I agree like the current interview process, so quote, unquote, 224 00:13:07,968 --> 00:13:12,890 like people say it's broken, or like it's not, we're not quite there yet. 225 00:13:12,890 --> 00:13:16,238 We haven't evolved to like the version three or the version that actually 226 00:13:16,238 --> 00:13:20,730 provides enough signal to provide like great candidates or diverse candidates. 227 00:13:20,730 --> 00:13:25,169 But the advantage or the pros of this is now we know that there are systems out 228 00:13:25,169 --> 00:13:29,800 there, or there's resources out there that help you level up. 229 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:30,541 >> Got it. >> And so 230 00:13:30,541 --> 00:13:34,758 this is the game that we're currently playing, and so like I will say, 231 00:13:34,758 --> 00:13:38,202 just embrace it for now and maybe once you get into tech, or 232 00:13:38,202 --> 00:13:43,300 once you get into a particular job, you can kind of change it from the inside. 233 00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:43,880 >> Got it. 234 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:45,638 Okay. I have a ton of good questions, but 235 00:13:45,638 --> 00:13:47,500 there's also some good ones coming in. 236 00:13:47,500 --> 00:13:52,506 One of them, Thomas Gilbert said, should you focus on coding 237 00:13:52,506 --> 00:13:57,431 challenges or actual job related skills prior to applying? 238 00:13:57,431 --> 00:13:58,890 >> Yeah, that's a good question. 239 00:13:58,890 --> 00:14:03,808 I'll say focusing on coding challenges because that is what you're being tested 240 00:14:03,808 --> 00:14:04,730 on, right? 241 00:14:04,730 --> 00:14:10,041 Like the same way you, let's say you're applying to school they want, 242 00:14:10,041 --> 00:14:12,090 like a college, right? 243 00:14:12,090 --> 00:14:16,393 They're testing you, you have a set of tests that you need to take, such as SAT. 244 00:14:16,393 --> 00:14:19,439 And then there's other skills so it's just, I don't know, 245 00:14:19,439 --> 00:14:23,128 like your study skills or like your other habits of like, in physics like, 246 00:14:23,128 --> 00:14:25,842 how well do you know physics if you're physics major. 247 00:14:25,842 --> 00:14:27,293 They won't test you on that. 248 00:14:27,293 --> 00:14:31,243 What you'll be testing on was like the coding challenges, 249 00:14:31,243 --> 00:14:33,853 which is the LeetCode type questions. 250 00:14:33,853 --> 00:14:39,010 And it goes back to me explaining like how, like the hiring process. 251 00:14:39,010 --> 00:14:42,178 This is like the game that would currently have been playing for 252 00:14:42,178 --> 00:14:46,140 the last eight years, and I think it was continued to remain like the same way. 253 00:14:46,140 --> 00:14:48,430 >> Okay, so prepare, prepare. 254 00:14:48,430 --> 00:14:52,750 >> Cuz preparing, it will help you down the line in the next five to ten years. 255 00:14:52,750 --> 00:14:54,590 So it's good stuff. 256 00:14:54,590 --> 00:14:55,340 >> Great. 257 00:14:55,340 --> 00:15:01,552 Can you share about pair programming in a technical interview? 258 00:15:01,552 --> 00:15:02,740 >> Yeah, absolutely. 259 00:15:02,740 --> 00:15:07,074 So pair programming would be, whenever somebody is asking you a technical 260 00:15:07,074 --> 00:15:11,010 question, a lot of times they want to see how well you collaborate. 261 00:15:12,110 --> 00:15:17,750 And think on the fly as it relates to a problem. 262 00:15:17,750 --> 00:15:20,422 And so many times getting feedback, 263 00:15:20,422 --> 00:15:25,171 like reacting to feedback appropriately is part of the process. 264 00:15:25,171 --> 00:15:27,200 [COUGH] Excuse me. 265 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:28,550 >> No problem. 266 00:15:28,550 --> 00:15:29,380 >> Yeah. 267 00:15:29,380 --> 00:15:30,040 >> You get some water if you want. 268 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:35,240 >> So, [COUGH] yeah, I got excited with pair programming. 269 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:40,209 Yeah, so I would say, just be very conscious about 270 00:15:40,209 --> 00:15:43,212 [COUGH] what people are- >> No problem. 271 00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:50,772 Been there before, coughing at the wrong time. 272 00:15:50,772 --> 00:15:52,874 [LAUGH] 273 00:16:01,753 --> 00:16:04,153 While Abraham is getting that cough out, 274 00:16:04,153 --> 00:16:07,680 I just wanna thank everybody for joining us today. 275 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,100 And keep your questions coming in. 276 00:16:10,100 --> 00:16:14,729 This whole session is designed to really take Abraham's experience, getting 277 00:16:14,729 --> 00:16:19,510 through technical interviews and shedding some of that knowledge out to you all. 278 00:16:21,090 --> 00:16:22,370 >> Yeah, I think I'm ready. 279 00:16:22,370 --> 00:16:23,140 >> Okay, good. 280 00:16:23,140 --> 00:16:24,570 [LAUGH] It's okay, if you just cough it out. 281 00:16:24,570 --> 00:16:26,670 Don't worry. 282 00:16:26,670 --> 00:16:28,010 So we're talking about pair programming. 283 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:30,230 >> Yeah, yeah. 284 00:16:30,230 --> 00:16:35,701 So I would say just when somebody gives you feedback, 285 00:16:35,701 --> 00:16:40,090 just understand, be able to adjust to it. 286 00:16:40,090 --> 00:16:45,070 Don't get, I guess scared or just think about it as a collaborative exercise. 287 00:16:45,070 --> 00:16:48,883 Something that you will do anyways, when you get the job or when you're working is 288 00:16:48,883 --> 00:16:52,850 like, you want to be able to see, hey, do I wanna work with this person? 289 00:16:52,850 --> 00:16:53,800 So, it's a two-way street. 290 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:59,170 Not only are they getting signal from you, you're getting signal from them. 291 00:16:59,170 --> 00:17:04,852 Whether, is this the type of place that I'll be happy working in? 292 00:17:04,852 --> 00:17:09,386 And so like, many times, I would even stop an interview and say, hey, look, 293 00:17:09,386 --> 00:17:14,060 like this is not the type of place I'm in, like image that I'm working. 294 00:17:14,060 --> 00:17:16,610 And I appreciate your time. 295 00:17:16,610 --> 00:17:18,550 I don't think it's going to be a great fit. 296 00:17:19,580 --> 00:17:23,410 And that's the attitude that you need go in into an interview. 297 00:17:23,410 --> 00:17:26,062 It's like you're gauging the fact, or 298 00:17:26,062 --> 00:17:29,806 you're gauging whether you want to work at that place and 299 00:17:29,806 --> 00:17:34,258 whether that's a place that's going to help you get to your goals. 300 00:17:34,258 --> 00:17:36,002 >> [INAUDIBLE] Place for you. 301 00:17:36,002 --> 00:17:38,370 So as we're comparing programming, 302 00:17:38,370 --> 00:17:42,884 how important is it to talk out loud about what you're thinking and how, 303 00:17:42,884 --> 00:17:48,350 tell us about what you should be doing in the pair programming exercise. 304 00:17:48,350 --> 00:17:51,476 >> Yeah, so like, since you're trying to get the signal, 305 00:17:51,476 --> 00:17:54,680 I would say you should talk about the various approaches. 306 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,498 So like, I even talked about the big O notation of, or 307 00:17:57,498 --> 00:18:00,140 like the various complexities of your solution. 308 00:18:00,140 --> 00:18:03,727 So like, you might have a brute force approach that you thought about at first 309 00:18:03,727 --> 00:18:05,340 and you should like verbalize it. 310 00:18:05,340 --> 00:18:09,420 Hey, look, I'm thinking of doing it in this manner, but maybe not. 311 00:18:09,420 --> 00:18:13,260 Maybe there's another approach but I can't really think about it right now. 312 00:18:13,260 --> 00:18:15,620 Would it be okay that maybe we approach it this way? 313 00:18:15,620 --> 00:18:18,810 And maybe once I have more time, we can approach this this other way. 314 00:18:18,810 --> 00:18:22,760 And they'll be like, no, no, no, you need an optimal approach. 315 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:27,900 And then you'll be like, okay, and then let's think about the optimal approach. 316 00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:31,754 And then you talk about how would you go about it, and 317 00:18:31,754 --> 00:18:36,583 then you can collaborate with the person in front of you, right? 318 00:18:36,583 --> 00:18:38,780 They're not just the wall right there. 319 00:18:38,780 --> 00:18:41,290 They're living breathing things. 320 00:18:41,290 --> 00:18:44,000 >> And how do you, how can you practice that, 321 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,944 the pair programming interview experience? 322 00:18:46,944 --> 00:18:50,510 I would say find a buddy, they don't necessarily have to be your friend. 323 00:18:51,690 --> 00:18:56,114 With somebody that like in the same mindset, somebody that they can commit, 324 00:18:56,114 --> 00:18:58,718 think about it like a gym buddy like I'd say. 325 00:18:58,718 --> 00:19:01,890 Like if somebody is committed to doing two hours a day. 326 00:19:01,890 --> 00:19:04,386 Find the other person who would motivate you, 327 00:19:04,386 --> 00:19:06,882 because a lot of times when you're studying or 328 00:19:06,882 --> 00:19:10,726 when you're doing pair programming, you might not feel high energy. 329 00:19:10,726 --> 00:19:15,659 Or you might be sick, or I quote, unquote, sick, and 330 00:19:15,659 --> 00:19:20,650 so finding that extra energy outside of you. 331 00:19:20,650 --> 00:19:24,082 Not only helps you in motivating some other people, 332 00:19:24,082 --> 00:19:27,829 it motivates you to write like if you're in it together. 333 00:19:27,829 --> 00:19:32,819 And so it goes hand in hand with you're actually getting practice on 334 00:19:32,819 --> 00:19:35,631 how to verbalize a lot of these ideas. 335 00:19:35,631 --> 00:19:40,716 And only that you're finding somebody who consistently can kind 336 00:19:40,716 --> 00:19:45,710 of give you that energy whenever you don't feel like practicing 337 00:19:45,710 --> 00:19:50,564 on a Friday morning or wherever it is, >> It has been like a gym buddy. 338 00:19:50,564 --> 00:19:51,341 I love that. 339 00:19:51,341 --> 00:19:53,440 Okay. 340 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,027 What other forms of technical interviewing are there? 341 00:19:57,027 --> 00:20:01,460 Algorithmic questions, take home, etc, just walk us through all the types. 342 00:20:02,470 --> 00:20:08,574 Yeah, so there's the phone screen which is usually done on quarter pad or 343 00:20:08,574 --> 00:20:10,320 hacker rank. 344 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,804 That's one that's usually stages when they're trying to gauge your 345 00:20:14,804 --> 00:20:16,330 technical abilities. 346 00:20:16,330 --> 00:20:20,715 The other one will be a take home which is they gives you a reactor and 347 00:20:20,715 --> 00:20:25,567 your project or some back end projects and they say hey, in 3 to 6 hours, 348 00:20:25,567 --> 00:20:28,680 do some work on it, and then submit it. 349 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:33,010 And then the third one it'll be like more for onsite. 350 00:20:33,010 --> 00:20:40,220 It's called as a system design interview which talks about distributed systems. 351 00:20:40,220 --> 00:20:43,950 So like how would you scale Twitter to millions of users? 352 00:20:43,950 --> 00:20:46,470 Or how would you scale Facebook to millions of users or 353 00:20:46,470 --> 00:20:47,875 Airbnb to millions of users? 354 00:20:47,875 --> 00:20:53,940 It's one thing to create a application for 10 users, or a product for 10 users but 355 00:20:53,940 --> 00:20:59,585 it's another skill to understand how do you build out the IT infrastructure and 356 00:20:59,585 --> 00:21:04,050 the system infrastructure to scale to multiple computers. 357 00:21:04,050 --> 00:21:05,651 >> Interesting. >> Those are the three types of 358 00:21:05,651 --> 00:21:06,420 interviews. 359 00:21:06,420 --> 00:21:11,222 And I would say the lead codes type interviews the phone screens, those 360 00:21:11,222 --> 00:21:16,602 are the type of interviews that you can get really good in a short amount of time. 361 00:21:16,602 --> 00:21:23,020 The take homes those are mixed bag because you don't know how they will grade you. 362 00:21:23,020 --> 00:21:26,985 So you might do the best project in the world, but if the other person does 363 00:21:26,985 --> 00:21:31,700 not understand where you're coming from, they might just say no pass. 364 00:21:31,700 --> 00:21:35,531 And I give you enough feedback for you to improve. 365 00:21:35,531 --> 00:21:40,340 The system design it's a different type of ballgame altogether. 366 00:21:40,340 --> 00:21:45,992 So, I'll say you should prepare 70% of the time, you should focus on the lead 367 00:21:45,992 --> 00:21:52,140 cutter questions and then the other extra percent will be on the system design. 368 00:21:52,140 --> 00:21:56,588 >> Got it. >> And then the take home is you should be 369 00:21:56,588 --> 00:21:59,583 coding for fun on the side. 370 00:21:59,583 --> 00:22:04,474 Or I would even say don't take the take homes if a company is not willing to put 371 00:22:04,474 --> 00:22:08,755 the effort to put an engineer in front of you and work with you well, 372 00:22:08,755 --> 00:22:13,496 I guess that's very symmetrical, it doesn't feel like a good company, 373 00:22:13,496 --> 00:22:16,910 I would say so that's my personal opinion. 374 00:22:16,910 --> 00:22:18,610 >> Okay, that's interesting. 375 00:22:18,610 --> 00:22:23,292 But Toria was just saying that it's terrifying to do pair programming, 376 00:22:23,292 --> 00:22:27,830 what's one piece of advice you can get just for getting through that? 377 00:22:30,070 --> 00:22:32,978 >> Yeah, so with pair programming, 378 00:22:32,978 --> 00:22:39,200 I'll say just it depends on I guess, what part of it is terrifying. 379 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,083 Is it the fact that you're meeting somebody brand new and 380 00:22:42,083 --> 00:22:45,350 they're asking you a very technical question out of nowhere? 381 00:22:45,350 --> 00:22:49,880 Or is it the fact that you feel that you might fail? 382 00:22:51,530 --> 00:22:57,072 I'd say depending on where you're coming from, but I will say just practicing 383 00:22:57,072 --> 00:23:03,200 a lot with other people like strangers is a good way to get that out of your system. 384 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,950 And so I recommend a website such as cramp.com. 385 00:23:06,950 --> 00:23:12,163 And I used to do like one or two a day for like a month in the third 386 00:23:12,163 --> 00:23:17,187 day that allowed me to get that out of the system very fast. 387 00:23:17,187 --> 00:23:21,015 And, yeah, it's just like a repetition and 388 00:23:21,015 --> 00:23:25,349 you shouldn't be afraid to showcase your skills or 389 00:23:25,349 --> 00:23:29,199 your understanding of the problem, right? 390 00:23:29,199 --> 00:23:33,960 Because a lot of these problems there's multiple ways to solve the same thing. 391 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:39,182 So that's, >> And they're saying, what if your mind 392 00:23:39,182 --> 00:23:45,470 kinda goes blank and you feel like you need time what do you do? 393 00:23:45,470 --> 00:23:49,641 >> So, you should have a structured approach and the structure approach comes 394 00:23:49,641 --> 00:23:53,942 with there's a lot of good companies out there a lot of websites that will say, 395 00:23:53,942 --> 00:23:55,390 first state the problem. 396 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,528 After you state the problem provide the edge cases, 397 00:24:00,528 --> 00:24:07,450 the inputs that might break your program, and they can obviously clarify things. 398 00:24:07,450 --> 00:24:09,870 And then third, find a brute force approach. 399 00:24:09,870 --> 00:24:13,000 >> Once you find a brute force approach, what is the next logical thing? 400 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,360 Find an optimal approach and after you find the optimal approach, 401 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:18,400 you talk about it with the interviewer, 402 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,980 then you code it up, >> Got it. 403 00:24:20,980 --> 00:24:24,810 >> And so if you freeze in any one of those areas once you practice it in 404 00:24:24,810 --> 00:24:27,876 that manner, you will know like, Hey look, okay, 405 00:24:27,876 --> 00:24:30,590 I couldn't go to the optimal approach. 406 00:24:30,590 --> 00:24:33,790 So maybe I'll stay in the brute force approach. 407 00:24:33,790 --> 00:24:37,017 Many times that's good enough for a lot of these interviews, 408 00:24:37,017 --> 00:24:40,240 because they just want to see your thought process. 409 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:41,540 >> Got it. 410 00:24:41,540 --> 00:24:44,276 So for instance, if you're saying listen, 411 00:24:44,276 --> 00:24:48,510 I'm gonna think through the brute force approach here. 412 00:24:48,510 --> 00:24:51,924 I feel I think that this is the data structure that I wanna use 413 00:24:51,924 --> 00:24:54,630 to solve this and this is why I'm gonna do it. 414 00:24:54,630 --> 00:24:58,753 I know that might not be optimal, but are you comfortable with me thinking 415 00:24:58,753 --> 00:25:01,547 through the brute force approach for a minute, or 416 00:25:01,547 --> 00:25:05,890 would you rather me to sit back and think through the optimal approach first? 417 00:25:05,890 --> 00:25:07,649 And like you said, then they'll direct you. 418 00:25:07,649 --> 00:25:11,250 But I think just talk thinking out loud, it sounds like that's what you're saying. 419 00:25:11,250 --> 00:25:16,188 Think out loud and have a structured approach that you can walk through 420 00:25:16,188 --> 00:25:19,210 to help you kind of when you start to panic. 421 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:25,284 >> Yeah, exactly and so it goes back to repetition that's why I say Hey, 422 00:25:25,284 --> 00:25:29,042 you should go to the gym or go to your interviewing gym one or 423 00:25:29,042 --> 00:25:33,492 two hours every day and then when you actually have a real interview is 424 00:25:33,492 --> 00:25:37,664 just an extension of what you've been doing every day up to now. 425 00:25:37,664 --> 00:25:40,901 >> Got it. 426 00:25:40,901 --> 00:25:43,345 If you practice in that way it'll be rare for 427 00:25:43,345 --> 00:25:46,540 you to blank out just like straight black out. 428 00:25:46,540 --> 00:25:52,482 And so that's why typically I would say just the first couple of weeks 429 00:25:52,482 --> 00:25:59,143 just do pranks and then go to the real interviews then to the real companies and 430 00:25:59,143 --> 00:26:03,570 then have a strategy how you wanna spread them out. 431 00:26:03,570 --> 00:26:04,310 >> Got it. 432 00:26:04,310 --> 00:26:08,831 So don't do all the interviews day after day, like do one, learn from it and 433 00:26:08,831 --> 00:26:11,750 then schedule one, a week later. 434 00:26:11,750 --> 00:26:15,650 >> Yeah, I think there's a lot of strategies out there for first how to 435 00:26:15,650 --> 00:26:21,090 schedule the interview depending on what type of companies or what your goals are. 436 00:26:21,090 --> 00:26:25,900 You can just go on blind.com I'll say even blind.com is another resource or 437 00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:28,720 read it see it's career questions. 438 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:29,876 >> Got it. Okay, 439 00:26:29,876 --> 00:26:35,322 Ryan's asking what do you mean by brute force? 440 00:26:35,322 --> 00:26:40,356 Brute force will be whenever you solve a algorithmic challenge or 441 00:26:40,356 --> 00:26:46,487 any type of problem, there's quote unquote the naive approach or the approach 442 00:26:46,487 --> 00:26:51,905 that comes into your head without you really thinking about a deeply. 443 00:26:51,905 --> 00:26:56,848 And that's usually the brute force approach, but it takes maybe more memory, 444 00:26:56,848 --> 00:26:58,580 more CPU time. 445 00:26:58,580 --> 00:27:03,560 And then once you really think about the problem, then there's an optimal approach. 446 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:08,186 Typically, the way you would say this is something called big O 447 00:27:08,186 --> 00:27:12,120 notation is like what we talked about in interviews. 448 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,984 It's just how much compute and 449 00:27:14,984 --> 00:27:20,410 how much memory does your particular solution take? 450 00:27:20,410 --> 00:27:23,720 And then you can compare two possible solutions. 451 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,139 And one would always be more optimal than the other and 452 00:27:26,139 --> 00:27:29,760 there's always the most optimal solution and you cannot get better than that. 453 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:30,859 >> Got it >> And 454 00:27:30,859 --> 00:27:35,487 that's typically what the interviewer is looking for. 455 00:27:35,487 --> 00:27:40,850 But don't feel that you have to find that optimal solution, because 456 00:27:40,850 --> 00:27:47,740 many computer scientists have spend years trying to figure out these problems. 457 00:27:47,740 --> 00:27:50,712 And many times they expect you to solve them in 30 minutes or 40 minutes. 458 00:27:50,712 --> 00:27:52,188 >> That's right. >> That's unrealistic, right? 459 00:27:52,188 --> 00:27:55,720 >> [LAUGH] >> So that's why I'll say you should focus 460 00:27:55,720 --> 00:28:00,390 on preparing based on the question bank from the code. 461 00:28:00,390 --> 00:28:05,540 And if you cannot find the optimal approach, that's fine people take years. 462 00:28:05,540 --> 00:28:06,722 >> Right. >> To figure this out. 463 00:28:06,722 --> 00:28:08,560 >> Got it. 464 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,850 There's a lot of good questions coming in. 465 00:28:12,150 --> 00:28:15,218 One of them that we had pre-prepared for you though is, 466 00:28:15,218 --> 00:28:19,150 what happens if you get asked a question and you don't know the answer? 467 00:28:22,681 --> 00:28:27,538 >> I think it depends on what type of question it 468 00:28:27,538 --> 00:28:31,750 is if it's an algorithmic question. 469 00:28:33,770 --> 00:28:38,330 >> Like I said, you should have a plan like, the first plan was clarification. 470 00:28:38,330 --> 00:28:40,490 If you're stuck, what are you asking? 471 00:28:40,490 --> 00:28:45,464 What do you mean by this question and keep on asking them until you're clearly 472 00:28:45,464 --> 00:28:48,462 defined the question out of the interviewer. 473 00:28:48,462 --> 00:28:53,950 And then after that, then you can have your first approach to it. 474 00:28:53,950 --> 00:28:55,952 And is really this what you mean? 475 00:28:55,952 --> 00:28:57,566 And then you can ask that. 476 00:28:57,566 --> 00:29:00,095 If you get stuck because you're nervous, 477 00:29:00,095 --> 00:29:04,740 that means that you just haven't done enough mock interviews. 478 00:29:04,740 --> 00:29:08,609 And typically I know that there's a lot of literature out there and 479 00:29:08,609 --> 00:29:12,617 a lot of statistics that it takes around like 6 to 10 interviews for 480 00:29:12,617 --> 00:29:14,960 you to be able to perform well. 481 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,063 >> Got it. >> And you can go to Interviewing.io is 482 00:29:18,063 --> 00:29:23,782 another company that they provide a lot of information on interviewing. 483 00:29:23,782 --> 00:29:26,271 You can look at their blog and 484 00:29:26,271 --> 00:29:31,666 they talk about how they basically tested two sets of people, 485 00:29:31,666 --> 00:29:38,010 some that actually did around 8 mock interviews and some that didn't. 486 00:29:38,010 --> 00:29:43,483 And the ones who did around 8 mock interviews wherever's from statistically, 487 00:29:43,483 --> 00:29:46,309 significantly better than their peers. 488 00:29:46,309 --> 00:29:47,990 >> Wow, so do the work. 489 00:29:49,100 --> 00:29:49,617 >> Yeah. So I 490 00:29:49,617 --> 00:29:54,210 would say just do the mock interviews and get the nervousness out of your system. 491 00:29:54,210 --> 00:29:55,070 >> Great. 492 00:29:55,070 --> 00:30:00,064 I mean, and if in the end you still don't know the answer 493 00:30:00,064 --> 00:30:03,596 is it okay to say I don't know. 494 00:30:03,596 --> 00:30:06,399 I'm gonna start searching and Googling to try to figure this out. 495 00:30:06,399 --> 00:30:08,031 Or is it. 496 00:30:08,031 --> 00:30:12,173 >> I would say if I were preparing you if you were my [INAUDIBLE] that I was or 497 00:30:12,173 --> 00:30:16,317 we're gonna be there together for this interview thing I'd say no, 498 00:30:16,317 --> 00:30:20,104 that's not good enough, let's find out why that happened and 499 00:30:20,104 --> 00:30:22,750 let's not have that happen again. 500 00:30:22,750 --> 00:30:24,950 Initially, I'll say let's patch up your leaks. 501 00:30:24,950 --> 00:30:31,772 Maybe it's a question on trees, or maybe the method question is what got you. 502 00:30:31,772 --> 00:30:36,705 So the analogy I would use, maybe today was like these are the leg day. 503 00:30:36,705 --> 00:30:38,064 Maybe you need to do more legs. 504 00:30:38,064 --> 00:30:40,125 >> Right. >> Maybe the bench press got you and 505 00:30:40,125 --> 00:30:42,570 maybe you need to do more bench press. 506 00:30:42,570 --> 00:30:45,219 >> Cool. >> Similarly with algorithmic questions, 507 00:30:45,219 --> 00:30:50,133 that's around ten sets of questions or ten types of questions that you can train for. 508 00:30:50,133 --> 00:30:51,290 >> Okay. 509 00:30:51,290 --> 00:30:54,220 >> And you can actually spread them out. 510 00:30:54,220 --> 00:30:58,629 Depending on how you're training like Monday's will be treated on Tuesday to 511 00:30:58,629 --> 00:30:59,364 strength and 512 00:30:59,364 --> 00:31:03,989 on Wednesdays you will do like dynamic programming or some other type of problem. 513 00:31:03,989 --> 00:31:04,692 >> Cool. 514 00:31:04,692 --> 00:31:09,399 >> And each person will have their own favorite questions, can confer for 515 00:31:09,399 --> 00:31:11,680 questions that they're good at. 516 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,460 And then they will have questions that they're not so good at. 517 00:31:15,460 --> 00:31:17,071 >> Yeah. >> And you might get unlucky and 518 00:31:17,071 --> 00:31:20,650 you might get asked that and so there's a lot of variance in it. 519 00:31:20,650 --> 00:31:25,411 And in order to reduce the variance, I would say just have a strategy to 520 00:31:25,411 --> 00:31:29,820 practice on your weak spots, to focus on the weak spots. 521 00:31:29,820 --> 00:31:31,210 >> Yeah, I appreciate that. 522 00:31:31,210 --> 00:31:34,950 Okay, thank you. 523 00:31:34,950 --> 00:31:39,270 What tips do you have for explaining your coding process to interviewers? 524 00:31:41,610 --> 00:31:43,732 >> Explaining the coding process. 525 00:31:43,732 --> 00:31:45,540 >> You're talking out loud. 526 00:31:45,540 --> 00:31:47,598 So what tips do you have for that? 527 00:31:47,598 --> 00:31:52,359 >> Yeah, so within your language, let's say it's JavaScript or 528 00:31:52,359 --> 00:31:58,100 Python, there's certain terminology that's very technical. 529 00:31:58,100 --> 00:32:02,120 And is very specific to the language that you're using. 530 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:08,903 So for example in JavaScript be closure in Python will be I don't know, dictionaries, 531 00:32:08,903 --> 00:32:14,417 like having that in your repertoire or at least reading blogs about it. 532 00:32:14,417 --> 00:32:17,020 And understanding the language that you're using does matter. 533 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:19,712 That would help you out. 534 00:32:19,712 --> 00:32:21,760 That's first stage, right? 535 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:23,600 He can't say the thingamajigger. 536 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:24,195 Right? >> Right. 537 00:32:24,195 --> 00:32:25,880 >> [LAUGH] >> That wouldn't help you out. 538 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:30,808 And so, I might even have a list like the weeks 539 00:32:30,808 --> 00:32:36,018 before I go on an interview, I would remember. 540 00:32:36,018 --> 00:32:42,200 I'll write down the various names for a particular language that I'm interviewing. 541 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:46,130 And so that way it comes out fluently, right? 542 00:32:46,130 --> 00:32:50,049 I might mispronounce this sort of thing, but I would wanna practice it. 543 00:32:50,049 --> 00:32:53,461 And so by doing the research beforehand and 544 00:32:53,461 --> 00:32:58,202 understanding the specific language that you might use for 545 00:32:58,202 --> 00:33:03,889 your interview, I think that that will help you communicate better and 546 00:33:03,889 --> 00:33:07,430 be able to express yourself adequately. 547 00:33:07,430 --> 00:33:09,130 Yeah. >> All right. 548 00:33:09,130 --> 00:33:14,418 I mean, there's a consistent theme to this conversation which is preparation and 549 00:33:14,418 --> 00:33:15,180 hard work. 550 00:33:16,830 --> 00:33:19,410 And I appreciate that. 551 00:33:19,410 --> 00:33:24,227 One person said you're talking about ten specific questions. 552 00:33:24,227 --> 00:33:25,212 >> Yes. 553 00:33:25,212 --> 00:33:28,425 >> Could you tell us what those are? 554 00:33:28,425 --> 00:33:30,081 Yeah. 555 00:33:30,081 --> 00:33:35,782 So if you go to any computer science course like introductory 556 00:33:35,782 --> 00:33:41,486 computer science or more specifically algorithmic class, 557 00:33:41,486 --> 00:33:46,069 they'll start with the race, then strengths, 558 00:33:46,069 --> 00:33:51,210 the other ones will be linked list, trees. 559 00:33:51,210 --> 00:33:52,990 What's the other one, grass? 560 00:33:54,860 --> 00:33:55,580 What's. 561 00:33:55,580 --> 00:33:57,230 >> I'm testing? 562 00:33:57,230 --> 00:33:58,320 >> Yeah. And then I forget. 563 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,590 So basically, those are this like seven or eight, right? 564 00:34:01,590 --> 00:34:04,083 And those are the different components that you can kind of spend 565 00:34:04,083 --> 00:34:05,300 a lot of time in. 566 00:34:05,300 --> 00:34:08,450 So trees are very related to grass. 567 00:34:08,450 --> 00:34:11,333 And so that's why they teach you about trees first, and 568 00:34:11,333 --> 00:34:13,500 then they teach you about grass. 569 00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:14,180 >> Okay. 570 00:34:14,180 --> 00:34:18,852 >> And these concepts, I would say once you get a breadth of knowledge of all 571 00:34:18,852 --> 00:34:23,522 these concepts, then you'll find your favorite topics, I hear a lot of 572 00:34:23,522 --> 00:34:28,640 people saying trees are my favorite topics, grass are my favorite topic. 573 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:30,570 And why is that, right? 574 00:34:30,570 --> 00:34:35,389 Most of the times because maybe the way it got introduced to you, was fun or 575 00:34:35,389 --> 00:34:39,470 you maybe got really good at it compared to your peers. 576 00:34:39,470 --> 00:34:44,149 And that's why I would say that they can typically get a feel for 577 00:34:44,149 --> 00:34:46,361 what do you like and enjoy it. 578 00:34:46,361 --> 00:34:50,374 It can be fun like this process can be fun, and 579 00:34:50,374 --> 00:34:56,392 that's why I like tried to think about this as like a gamification or 580 00:34:56,392 --> 00:35:00,214 like going to the gym or whatever analogy. 581 00:35:00,214 --> 00:35:05,034 Whatever keep me motivated is the same cane answer that 582 00:35:05,034 --> 00:35:07,349 used the same ideas, >> Right 583 00:35:07,349 --> 00:35:08,480 >> From your background. 584 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,963 >> Yeah, I like how you're talking about it in a gym sense, and 585 00:35:11,963 --> 00:35:14,870 I guess I understand the gym cuz I used to go a lot. 586 00:35:14,870 --> 00:35:18,654 But this idea of yeah, legs back, chest, shoulders, 587 00:35:18,654 --> 00:35:23,726 abs you're gonna have your favorite, but you still have to go back and work 588 00:35:23,726 --> 00:35:30,070 on the one that you're weakest on, and get to the point where you feel good about it. 589 00:35:30,070 --> 00:35:35,070 So we've only got about four more minutes before we go into full blown Q&A. 590 00:35:35,070 --> 00:35:38,420 So I'm gonna ask you a couple more of our pre-prepared questions. 591 00:35:38,420 --> 00:35:40,613 And just wanna tell everyone, thank you for joining. 592 00:35:40,613 --> 00:35:42,720 It's good to see you here. 593 00:35:42,720 --> 00:35:47,039 Love your questions, keep them coming in, and we'll get through as many as we can. 594 00:35:47,039 --> 00:35:48,940 So let's talk about the portfolio. 595 00:35:48,940 --> 00:35:50,770 What should a portfolio have? 596 00:35:52,070 --> 00:35:54,880 And how do we speak about a portfolio to interviewers? 597 00:35:56,310 --> 00:36:00,520 >> I think it depends on what when you what we mean by portfolio, 598 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,495 because there's frontend developers and 599 00:36:03,495 --> 00:36:08,790 there's backend developers and there's full stack developers. 600 00:36:08,790 --> 00:36:14,307 Usually what I encourage people to do is instead of focusing on the portfolio, 601 00:36:14,307 --> 00:36:16,731 like focus on your fundamentals, 602 00:36:16,731 --> 00:36:22,250 which is the algorithmic questions that they'll be asking you. 603 00:36:22,250 --> 00:36:27,033 Why do I advocate for this is because like a portfolio is something that 604 00:36:27,033 --> 00:36:32,301 somebody one day they might they might say hey like I like your portfoli,o and 605 00:36:32,301 --> 00:36:36,051 then the next day they might have a different opinion. 606 00:36:36,051 --> 00:36:40,213 Like if you're interviewing for algorithmic questions you can consistently 607 00:36:40,213 --> 00:36:43,700 figure out how well you're doing, because it's a test. 608 00:36:43,700 --> 00:36:44,250 >> Got it. 609 00:36:44,250 --> 00:36:48,065 >> So and this is coming from my experience, 610 00:36:48,065 --> 00:36:53,079 from ten plus years of experience of going through this 611 00:36:53,079 --> 00:36:59,070 process of understanding how interviews are being done. 612 00:36:59,070 --> 00:37:04,780 How we judge people just based on these questions or based on the portfolio. 613 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:12,660 So yeah, focus your time on preparing for your algorithmic questions. 614 00:37:14,540 --> 00:37:16,781 Does that answer it or was that? 615 00:37:20,443 --> 00:37:21,680 We lost Brian? 616 00:37:24,130 --> 00:37:26,369 So maybe I'll take some more questions. 617 00:37:30,405 --> 00:37:33,410 Is there any programming equivalent to burpees? 618 00:37:33,410 --> 00:37:37,740 I think dynamic programming questions are burpees, right? 619 00:37:37,740 --> 00:37:40,190 Like either you like them or you hate them. 620 00:37:44,603 --> 00:37:48,770 Okay, so some places require a portfolio to apply. 621 00:37:48,770 --> 00:37:51,270 So what do you recommend in a portfolio to land the interview? 622 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:58,734 I would say in a portfolio, having a strong LinkedIn 623 00:37:58,734 --> 00:38:04,247 presence is your portfolio as a technologist. 624 00:38:06,672 --> 00:38:12,190 Yeah, so I would say just focus on your LinkedIn profile. 625 00:38:12,190 --> 00:38:15,710 And from there, just add recruiters on LinkedIn. 626 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,630 And you don't need a personal website. 627 00:38:19,630 --> 00:38:22,080 I'll say that's good enough. 628 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:25,958 And there's a lot of literature out there on how to optimize your LinkedIn, 629 00:38:25,958 --> 00:38:29,473 some people might even say change some settings go from searching for 630 00:38:29,473 --> 00:38:31,720 a job to not searching for a job. 631 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:34,231 Why? Because the LinkedIn feed will optimize 632 00:38:34,231 --> 00:38:36,880 people who've done changes. 633 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,771 In the last couple of days, 634 00:38:38,771 --> 00:38:43,310 like basically you're gaming the feed by having more activity. 635 00:38:44,470 --> 00:38:48,207 So that is one advise that I've heard that has helped people. 636 00:38:50,744 --> 00:38:53,930 How many algo questions do you recommend doing each day? 637 00:38:53,930 --> 00:38:56,237 I think it depends. 638 00:38:56,237 --> 00:38:59,137 Instead of focusing on number of questions, 639 00:38:59,137 --> 00:39:01,600 focus on number of hours, right? 640 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:06,157 If you only have two hours to prepare because you're working full time, 641 00:39:06,157 --> 00:39:11,710 then set up a schedule to do as many questions as you can for those two hours. 642 00:39:11,710 --> 00:39:17,086 If you're not working full time, and you have the time, 643 00:39:17,086 --> 00:39:23,135 I will say even spend eight hours focusing on your preparation. 644 00:39:23,135 --> 00:39:26,831 At the end of the day, this will be worth it because you'll be working 645 00:39:26,831 --> 00:39:29,532 in a company that you're interested in, right? 646 00:39:29,532 --> 00:39:36,737 That you'll be able to basically help your future self out in that way. 647 00:39:39,131 --> 00:39:40,970 This says, so in interviews, 648 00:39:40,970 --> 00:39:45,658 do you only accept the candidates who answer the questions 100% correct? 649 00:39:45,658 --> 00:39:46,832 No. 650 00:39:46,832 --> 00:39:52,075 I'll say a lot of times the feedback that we're trying to get is is this a person 651 00:39:52,075 --> 00:39:57,001 that I wanna work with, is it a person that I can have a conversation with in 652 00:39:57,001 --> 00:40:02,380 an elevator if I get stuck with them for like, In an elevated rate. 653 00:40:02,380 --> 00:40:07,600 If the answer is no, then I'll say that that's not a person I wanna hire. 654 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:09,140 Although that's not a person I wanna work with. 655 00:40:10,250 --> 00:40:12,000 >> Hello. I'm back. 656 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,550 >> Hey Ryan, answering the Q and A. 657 00:40:15,550 --> 00:40:16,580 >> I appreciate that. 658 00:40:16,580 --> 00:40:17,230 I could hear you. 659 00:40:17,230 --> 00:40:19,460 And just my whole machine locked. 660 00:40:19,460 --> 00:40:21,000 So anyway I'm back. 661 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:22,580 So apologies about that. 662 00:40:23,620 --> 00:40:24,700 So thanks for answering questions. 663 00:40:24,700 --> 00:40:26,580 Why don't you just keep going? 664 00:40:26,580 --> 00:40:27,700 >> Yeah, for sure. 665 00:40:27,700 --> 00:40:32,089 So Carlos Silva asks how has the pandemic affected programming interviews? 666 00:40:32,089 --> 00:40:37,630 What are the tips that you share with us, still apply in virtual interviews? 667 00:40:37,630 --> 00:40:40,265 What are the most common approaches that are being used 668 00:40:40,265 --> 00:40:41,876 during virtual interviews now? 669 00:40:41,876 --> 00:40:48,010 Carlos, I think that interviews actually got harder as a result of the pandemic. 670 00:40:48,010 --> 00:40:50,670 And the reason why is because the trust factor is very low. 671 00:40:51,720 --> 00:40:56,047 At least when you're doing interviews online. 672 00:40:56,047 --> 00:41:00,257 When you come into the office and you get to see the person, and whenever they solve 673 00:41:00,257 --> 00:41:04,426 the question on the whiteboard interview and like basically in the whiteboard. 674 00:41:04,426 --> 00:41:09,192 For the fact that they have no cheat sheets that they're solving a code, but 675 00:41:09,192 --> 00:41:13,900 when they're doing it virtually that's not quite true anymore, right? 676 00:41:13,900 --> 00:41:19,208 So now I've noticed that the questions have gotten progressively harder. 677 00:41:19,208 --> 00:41:25,399 The tips still remain the same where you need to have a full set of questions, 678 00:41:25,399 --> 00:41:31,109 your repertoire, like at least, I'll say 100 questions down and 679 00:41:31,109 --> 00:41:35,760 continue to progress through the questions. 680 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:39,602 And so once we go back to like on site interviews, I think nothing will change, 681 00:41:39,602 --> 00:41:41,190 everything will stay the same. 682 00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:47,437 So Augustine said, as a legal practitioner should we also 683 00:41:47,437 --> 00:41:51,058 visit the language fundamentals at the same time? 684 00:41:51,058 --> 00:41:56,566 You should definitely revisit the language fundamentals especially, 685 00:41:56,566 --> 00:42:01,080 because all these algorithmic questions require you to use 686 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:04,780 the right language with the right libraries, or 687 00:42:04,780 --> 00:42:10,480 being fluent in your core language is what you've been tested on. 688 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:13,460 So if you don't know how to do tests. 689 00:42:13,460 --> 00:42:18,998 Or if you don't know how to throw arrows, then that signal, right? 690 00:42:18,998 --> 00:42:23,269 Then how long would it take you to Google like how you throw an arrow JavaScript, 691 00:42:23,269 --> 00:42:25,060 five minutes. 692 00:42:25,060 --> 00:42:27,050 But a lot of people don't come in prepared. 693 00:42:27,050 --> 00:42:29,477 So I would say to prepare on those fundamentals. 694 00:42:29,477 --> 00:42:29,982 >> Prepare. 695 00:42:29,982 --> 00:42:31,390 All right. 696 00:42:31,390 --> 00:42:33,878 I'll grab a couple of questions that happened earlier. 697 00:42:33,878 --> 00:42:39,353 So from Rose, when you first get the interview, for example, 698 00:42:39,353 --> 00:42:44,120 Amazon, how can you schedule out in order to prepare? 699 00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:46,480 How long do you usually get to schedule out? 700 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:49,650 How much time for a specific company? 701 00:42:49,650 --> 00:42:54,726 >> Yeah, so take as much time as you need the company or the recruiter. 702 00:42:54,726 --> 00:42:57,482 If you need one month or if you need two months, 703 00:42:57,482 --> 00:43:01,790 they understand that this process require some preparation. 704 00:43:01,790 --> 00:43:05,877 They understand that some people already prepared when they're on the phone call 705 00:43:05,877 --> 00:43:09,200 with the recruiter, but some people are not prepared. 706 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:14,320 And so if you need a month, use a month, if you need two months, use two months. 707 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:17,990 And I guess the follow up question is like, how much time would I need? 708 00:43:17,990 --> 00:43:19,247 It depends on where you started, right? 709 00:43:19,247 --> 00:43:21,970 And how many hours are you willing to put in each day. 710 00:43:21,970 --> 00:43:24,325 And that's why I say one to three months, 711 00:43:24,325 --> 00:43:29,580 the person who's doing eight hours a day can probably finish it in one month. 712 00:43:29,580 --> 00:43:33,590 The person who's doing one hour a day is probably gonna take a year, I don't know. 713 00:43:33,590 --> 00:43:35,859 You start forgetting for a while, right? 714 00:43:35,859 --> 00:43:36,430 Like >> Yeah. 715 00:43:36,430 --> 00:43:40,858 >> Like if you're doing a set of 100 questions, and you're trying to prepare 716 00:43:40,858 --> 00:43:45,420 well for a set of 100 questions, if you're not pacing yourself correctly and 717 00:43:45,420 --> 00:43:50,130 doing spaced repetition and going back, it might take you forever, right? 718 00:43:50,130 --> 00:43:51,880 >> Right >> The way things are. 719 00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:54,710 >> So I forgot which person asked this but 720 00:43:54,710 --> 00:43:59,470 they said how do you know when you're ready to do that? 721 00:43:59,470 --> 00:44:03,150 Mino said this, how do you know when you're ready for your first interview? 722 00:44:03,150 --> 00:44:08,610 >> I'd say schedule a prep interview or interview that I interview or 723 00:44:08,610 --> 00:44:13,388 some other mock interview with somebody that will give you 724 00:44:13,388 --> 00:44:17,460 honest feedback, after you get like a few wins. 725 00:44:17,460 --> 00:44:20,258 In other words, like if you're able to successfully complete two or 726 00:44:20,258 --> 00:44:23,350 three mock interviews with pass, I think that's good enough. 727 00:44:23,350 --> 00:44:24,670 >> Cool, smart. 728 00:44:24,670 --> 00:44:25,440 Okay. 729 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:29,997 And what you're saying about what how long to prep for that prep interview 730 00:44:29,997 --> 00:44:34,714 that's gonna depend on how much time you're putting in at the gym, right? 731 00:44:34,714 --> 00:44:37,930 If it's an hour a day, it's a lot longer than if it's eight hours a day. 732 00:44:37,930 --> 00:44:40,470 So it will depend on your prep time. 733 00:44:40,470 --> 00:44:43,959 >> Yeah, and with interviews that there's variance or what we call, 734 00:44:43,959 --> 00:44:47,383 you might get unlucky one day, you might get a very hard question or 735 00:44:47,383 --> 00:44:49,970 question you haven't prepared for. 736 00:44:49,970 --> 00:44:52,210 And that's fine, it happens. 737 00:44:53,230 --> 00:44:56,821 Don't be afraid to take the shots if you think you're prepared, 738 00:44:56,821 --> 00:45:00,819 you think you're ready, don't wait till you're 100% prepared. 739 00:45:00,819 --> 00:45:01,792 >> Yeah. 740 00:45:01,792 --> 00:45:04,568 >> Take the interviews when you're 60% prepared, 741 00:45:04,568 --> 00:45:08,164 because not only are they looking for your algorithmic abilities, 742 00:45:08,164 --> 00:45:11,490 they're also looking for your abilities as a person. 743 00:45:11,490 --> 00:45:11,990 >> Right, >> Right? 744 00:45:11,990 --> 00:45:16,619 How much can you really change as a person in three months or 745 00:45:16,619 --> 00:45:19,210 two months, not a lot, right? 746 00:45:19,210 --> 00:45:22,210 That will take you, you are who you are, right? 747 00:45:22,210 --> 00:45:26,706 So that is why I say 60% ready. 748 00:45:26,706 --> 00:45:28,272 >> Go, got it. 749 00:45:28,272 --> 00:45:29,488 So Stephanie said, 750 00:45:29,488 --> 00:45:33,405 how do companies determine which coding questions to give you? 751 00:45:33,405 --> 00:45:38,196 Is it possible that a bootcamp graduate would receive the same level questions as 752 00:45:38,196 --> 00:45:39,891 an experienced developer? 753 00:45:39,891 --> 00:45:43,795 >> Yeah, so most people get the same set of questions. 754 00:45:43,795 --> 00:45:47,844 And how is it determined? 755 00:45:47,844 --> 00:45:52,015 So I'll talk about my experience at Microsoft, so a recruiter will ask me, 756 00:45:52,015 --> 00:45:55,780 hey, look, you have a phone screen for this candidate. 757 00:45:55,780 --> 00:45:58,185 It's going to be two weeks from now. 758 00:45:58,185 --> 00:46:00,590 This is the dowry, are you available? 759 00:46:00,590 --> 00:46:01,780 And I say yes. 760 00:46:01,780 --> 00:46:06,652 And then from there, I'll make a decision on what question to ask and 761 00:46:06,652 --> 00:46:09,424 many times it will be based on what other 762 00:46:09,424 --> 00:46:14,840 colleagues have been asking during the last couple of months. 763 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:19,960 And these questions are pretty much from Liko to be honest. 764 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:23,957 If you go to liko.com, and you search for the company tag, it could be Microsoft, 765 00:46:23,957 --> 00:46:26,210 could be Google, could be Facebook. 766 00:46:26,210 --> 00:46:30,340 Those are the typical questions that get asked, even if you were to 767 00:46:30,340 --> 00:46:35,082 know the questions, the problem is that you need to prepare for it, right? 768 00:46:35,082 --> 00:46:39,607 To deliver the answer, to know the complexities and that in itself, 769 00:46:39,607 --> 00:46:41,570 it can be very difficult. 770 00:46:41,570 --> 00:46:44,139 It can take time. 771 00:46:44,139 --> 00:46:45,636 >> Got it. 772 00:46:45,636 --> 00:46:48,474 Okay, can I grab a couple more questions and 773 00:46:48,474 --> 00:46:51,290 we're gonna run out of time pretty fast. 774 00:46:51,290 --> 00:46:58,158 All right, Michelle said can you expand on not doing the take home assignments or 775 00:46:58,158 --> 00:47:03,010 expand on why you chose not to complete the assignments? 776 00:47:03,010 --> 00:47:06,320 You mentioned that happened at 1.2. 777 00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:08,160 A lot of company ask candidates to do them. 778 00:47:09,370 --> 00:47:14,311 >> Yeah. So it goes back to you. 779 00:47:14,311 --> 00:47:17,832 So I guess it's more of a personal choice, right? 780 00:47:17,832 --> 00:47:19,710 You're asking me as an individual. 781 00:47:19,710 --> 00:47:23,934 And if I were to give you this answer eight years ago, 782 00:47:23,934 --> 00:47:28,446 I'll say just take any opportunity, have a take home, 783 00:47:28,446 --> 00:47:34,117 have a phone screen, but unfortunately if you really think about it. 784 00:47:34,117 --> 00:47:36,815 Those six hours that you spend on your take home 785 00:47:36,815 --> 00:47:42,430 those first six hours you could have spent preparing for algorithmic questions. 786 00:47:42,430 --> 00:47:45,950 And for every hour you spend for another the question it could help you out for 787 00:47:45,950 --> 00:47:48,377 other companies that I suppose the same questions. 788 00:47:48,377 --> 00:47:52,057 And so if you spend six hours on this take home challenge, 789 00:47:52,057 --> 00:47:57,550 is it going to make you significantly better on your next take home challenge? 790 00:47:57,550 --> 00:47:59,570 Usually not. 791 00:47:59,570 --> 00:48:03,950 And so that's why it's more of a strategy and then also, 792 00:48:03,950 --> 00:48:09,640 think about it like companies that are giving you take homes. 793 00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:12,230 How much effort does it take them to give you a take home? 794 00:48:12,230 --> 00:48:12,975 It depends, right? 795 00:48:12,975 --> 00:48:16,140 Are they actually looking at every single line of code with you, or 796 00:48:16,140 --> 00:48:19,490 are they gonna send you a rejection without providing like feedback? 797 00:48:20,660 --> 00:48:23,940 Most of the time what I've heard or seen is they don't write feedback. 798 00:48:23,940 --> 00:48:25,790 They just give you a rejection. 799 00:48:25,790 --> 00:48:30,262 But for companies that actually set up time with you would actually put up one or 800 00:48:30,262 --> 00:48:32,242 two developers to interview you. 801 00:48:32,242 --> 00:48:36,360 They're actually committing to you as a developer and they appreciate your time. 802 00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:39,819 And you should know how to have other people respect your time, 803 00:48:39,819 --> 00:48:42,200 you should respect your own time. 804 00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:44,510 So like you are a valuable candidate. 805 00:48:44,510 --> 00:48:48,675 And that's the attitude that you need to come in with, and 806 00:48:48,675 --> 00:48:52,840 if somebody says hey look, this is a take home machine. 807 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:55,562 It should not normally take you for six hours. 808 00:48:55,562 --> 00:48:56,406 I'll be okay. 809 00:48:56,406 --> 00:48:59,233 Thank you. I'm gonna go find another company that can 810 00:48:59,233 --> 00:49:02,540 actually spend an hour with me so I can evaluate you too. 811 00:49:04,030 --> 00:49:08,983 >> You're saying really you want them to do the first interview 812 00:49:08,983 --> 00:49:12,186 before they asked you to do a take home, 813 00:49:12,186 --> 00:49:17,060 if it's just do a take home right away then it's a red flag. 814 00:49:17,060 --> 00:49:22,071 >> Yeah exactly I would say not only it's a red flag, 815 00:49:22,071 --> 00:49:28,440 let's say like out of the four take homes that you take. 816 00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:30,930 One of them gives you like really good feedback. 817 00:49:33,190 --> 00:49:39,420 Like the other three take homes, that's opportunities he could have used to study. 818 00:49:39,420 --> 00:49:40,397 >> Right. >> Yeah. 819 00:49:40,397 --> 00:49:42,973 >> Absolutely makes sense. 820 00:49:42,973 --> 00:49:48,822 I think the consistent thing I'm hearing you say in it and I'm repeating this is 821 00:49:48,822 --> 00:49:55,150 that you have to do a certain amount of systematic preparation and hard work. 822 00:49:55,150 --> 00:49:59,863 To get ready for the interview, and if you're just doing a bunch of take homes 823 00:49:59,863 --> 00:50:04,160 and not getting any feedback, you're literally wasting your time. 824 00:50:05,460 --> 00:50:08,030 So. >> Yeah, that's absolutely right. 825 00:50:08,030 --> 00:50:09,660 And I've been there, I understand. 826 00:50:09,660 --> 00:50:13,040 I mean, like a company comes up to you and they show some interest. 827 00:50:13,040 --> 00:50:13,810 You get excited. 828 00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:18,364 Hey, look, I'm the best candidate ever and 829 00:50:18,364 --> 00:50:23,886 you spend 20 hours on this take home, and then they give you a rejection. 830 00:50:23,886 --> 00:50:28,558 That's not a good feeling and not only does it mess with your 831 00:50:28,558 --> 00:50:34,640 schedule which is your routine, it messes with your confidence. 832 00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:38,948 And so you need to have consistency in order to be 833 00:50:38,948 --> 00:50:44,000 able to perform under the interview setting. 834 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:47,398 And so how do you create consistencies? 835 00:50:47,398 --> 00:50:51,938 By only taking interviews that you can take that are consistently asking the same 836 00:50:51,938 --> 00:50:53,820 type of questions. 837 00:50:53,820 --> 00:50:55,269 >> Got it. 838 00:50:55,269 --> 00:50:57,692 So Patricia asked, does applying for 839 00:50:57,692 --> 00:51:01,712 an internship require me to go through a technical interview? 840 00:51:01,712 --> 00:51:07,336 >> Yes, so most internships of west ask you a technical, 841 00:51:07,336 --> 00:51:13,095 you'll go to the phone screen or an online assessment. 842 00:51:13,095 --> 00:51:15,488 Through an online assessment portal where they ask you three or 843 00:51:15,488 --> 00:51:17,340 four algorithmic questions. 844 00:51:17,340 --> 00:51:21,646 And then you'll have a virtual on site where you have the behavioral and 845 00:51:21,646 --> 00:51:23,747 then the algorithmic questions. 846 00:51:23,747 --> 00:51:27,630 And they might even give you one system design questions depending on the company. 847 00:51:27,630 --> 00:51:30,801 >> Okay, got it. 848 00:51:30,801 --> 00:51:36,898 All right, Harmon asks, any specific area do you recommend people to study and 849 00:51:36,898 --> 00:51:39,265 would be a trend in the future? 850 00:51:39,265 --> 00:51:43,854 For instance, web development, software development, mobile development, 851 00:51:43,854 --> 00:51:45,725 where are you seeing the jobs go? 852 00:51:47,530 --> 00:51:54,420 Yeah, I think the trend is like, it's still in with computers, with software. 853 00:51:54,420 --> 00:51:59,480 I'll say anywhere that you find that you can spend some time. 854 00:52:01,010 --> 00:52:05,768 Just like geeking out is good enough, because this is something that you'll be 855 00:52:05,768 --> 00:52:09,450 working on for the next ten years, 20 years. 856 00:52:09,450 --> 00:52:13,618 And that you need to kind of have some sort of enjoyment or 857 00:52:13,618 --> 00:52:16,994 some sort of balance of you kind of liking it. 858 00:52:16,994 --> 00:52:20,873 So if it's crypto, it's crypto, if it's front end, it's front end. 859 00:52:20,873 --> 00:52:25,007 Or if it's like healthcare, like where I'm working in, its healthcare. 860 00:52:25,007 --> 00:52:30,056 If it's space, like the world has been overtaken by technology, 861 00:52:30,056 --> 00:52:33,220 and I don't see a stopping anytime soon. 862 00:52:34,370 --> 00:52:39,155 And there's a lot of roles in every single field that they need developers, 863 00:52:39,155 --> 00:52:42,470 from self-driving cars, self-driving trucks. 864 00:52:42,470 --> 00:52:46,517 I know that I have friends who, like any space that you can think of, 865 00:52:46,517 --> 00:52:50,650 that you're gonna need somebody to work on a specific piece. 866 00:52:50,650 --> 00:52:51,330 >> Got it. 867 00:52:51,330 --> 00:52:56,290 >> So don't feel formal, don't feel the fear of missing out. 868 00:52:56,290 --> 00:53:01,059 Because there's a lot of opportunities out there, and 869 00:53:01,059 --> 00:53:05,940 it goes back to you bringing your authentic self to work. 870 00:53:07,690 --> 00:53:12,110 Is that you can choose what company or what area to work in. 871 00:53:12,110 --> 00:53:13,962 >> Cool, thank you. 872 00:53:13,962 --> 00:53:16,450 From Latoya, they asked, in your opinion, 873 00:53:16,450 --> 00:53:19,134 is it worth it to apply to companies like Google, 874 00:53:19,134 --> 00:53:24,120 Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn, it's a ton of specific prep for those type of companies. 875 00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:27,403 For instance, Google has a recommended book lists YouTube videos and 876 00:53:27,403 --> 00:53:29,360 an eight-hour final interview on site. 877 00:53:31,170 --> 00:53:35,009 >> I would say yes, I think it's worth it because if you think about it, 878 00:53:35,009 --> 00:53:39,450 that the same resources that they're giving you is the same resources that have 879 00:53:39,450 --> 00:53:41,920 been given to people for the last ten years. 880 00:53:43,365 --> 00:53:44,117 And so, and 881 00:53:44,117 --> 00:53:49,195 I think it'll be the same resources that will be given in the next ten years. 882 00:53:49,195 --> 00:53:51,127 >> Right. >> And many companies model their 883 00:53:51,127 --> 00:53:54,705 interview processes based on these larger companies. 884 00:53:54,705 --> 00:53:56,315 So what does that mean to you? 885 00:53:56,315 --> 00:54:00,964 That means that whenever you prepare for this interview, not only are you preparing 886 00:54:00,964 --> 00:54:04,645 for this next job, you prepare for two or three jobs down the line. 887 00:54:06,560 --> 00:54:08,642 >> Got it, makes total sense. 888 00:54:08,642 --> 00:54:12,422 And you could also know why I apply at these companies and 889 00:54:12,422 --> 00:54:18,150 I've now I've experienced that, that experience and it would make you stronger. 890 00:54:18,150 --> 00:54:21,830 So, we're just about out of time. 891 00:54:21,830 --> 00:54:26,220 And I wanna explain to folks how they can do networking. 892 00:54:26,220 --> 00:54:27,617 So before I do that, 893 00:54:27,617 --> 00:54:32,890 any final bits of advice that you just really love to get across before we go? 894 00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:41,168 >> Yeah, I would say just, the interview process kind of sucks a little bit, 895 00:54:41,168 --> 00:54:45,366 or it sucks a lot, but don't lose your focus. 896 00:54:45,366 --> 00:54:49,275 You will be in tech working on some interesting things that people will be 897 00:54:49,275 --> 00:54:50,950 using in their everyday life. 898 00:54:50,950 --> 00:54:54,620 You'll be helping out society and just think about it that way. 899 00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:56,860 Follow your dream, right? 900 00:54:56,860 --> 00:54:58,790 If Google or Facebook, or 901 00:54:58,790 --> 00:55:04,865 these other companies is not what you're interested in, don't worry about it. 902 00:55:04,865 --> 00:55:07,451 I remember advocating is like, 903 00:55:07,451 --> 00:55:11,857 if the interview process is what's holding you back, 904 00:55:11,857 --> 00:55:16,764 there is a way to overcome that, with consistent practice. 905 00:55:16,764 --> 00:55:20,650 And hundreds of people, thousands, or millions of people have done it. 906 00:55:20,650 --> 00:55:22,770 The process hasn't changed in the last ten years. 907 00:55:22,770 --> 00:55:25,010 I don't see a change in the next ten years. 908 00:55:25,010 --> 00:55:27,220 And you don't have to like it. 909 00:55:27,220 --> 00:55:32,400 You can just play the game for one to three months and then move on. 910 00:55:33,450 --> 00:55:34,200 >> Thank you, Abraham. 911 00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:36,058 I appreciate it. 912 00:55:36,058 --> 00:55:40,257 Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience, and 913 00:55:40,257 --> 00:55:44,180 really kind of demystifying a lot of the scary parts of it. 914 00:55:44,180 --> 00:55:45,401 Thank you for that. 915 00:55:45,401 --> 00:55:49,781 I'm kind of sad that we didn't actually have you do a whiteboard interview 916 00:55:49,781 --> 00:55:53,620 since you have a whiteboard behind you but [LAUGH] maybe next time. 917 00:55:53,620 --> 00:55:58,585 Everyone, please make sure to follow and check out what Abraham's doing. 918 00:55:58,585 --> 00:56:02,034 What's the best place for people to connect with you? 919 00:56:02,034 --> 00:56:04,060 >> Best place is to be on LinkedIn. 920 00:56:04,060 --> 00:56:08,394 I'll go ahead and put my LinkedIn in there or if it's in my profile, [INAUDIBLE]. 921 00:56:08,394 --> 00:56:10,040 >> Thank you very much. 922 00:56:10,040 --> 00:56:12,929 >> So y'all, we've run out of time. 923 00:56:12,929 --> 00:56:15,800 Thank you so much for asking a ton of good questions. 924 00:56:17,490 --> 00:56:19,950 Please take time to do the networking session. 925 00:56:19,950 --> 00:56:24,500 So, one of the best things you can do in the job search is meet people 926 00:56:24,500 --> 00:56:29,151 because they can connect you to people at companies who are hiring. 927 00:56:29,151 --> 00:56:31,050 So here's how networking works. 928 00:56:31,050 --> 00:56:33,850 It's actually easy and fun. 929 00:56:33,850 --> 00:56:35,602 What you do is you click on networking, 930 00:56:35,602 --> 00:56:38,310 which is the button on the left side of the screen. 931 00:56:38,310 --> 00:56:41,983 And then what happens is you get randomly paired with another person. 932 00:56:41,983 --> 00:56:45,774 And you have a three-minute video chat. 933 00:56:45,774 --> 00:56:46,870 You can leave at any time. 934 00:56:46,870 --> 00:56:49,023 There's no obligation. 935 00:56:49,023 --> 00:56:50,750 And it's just a great place to meet folks. 936 00:56:50,750 --> 00:56:53,837 And I just encourage you to open with something like, hey, 937 00:56:53,837 --> 00:56:56,948 tell me about something you're really passionate about. 938 00:56:56,948 --> 00:57:00,210 And get to know some folks, and you never know who they know. 939 00:57:01,220 --> 00:57:05,490 So they may be family friends with Jeff Bezos, right? 940 00:57:05,490 --> 00:57:08,660 So, get to know some folks and see what happens. 941 00:57:10,350 --> 00:57:13,490 With that again, I just wanna thank Abraham again for spending time with us. 942 00:57:13,490 --> 00:57:16,140 We really appreciate it. 943 00:57:16,140 --> 00:57:18,560 And just please take what he said to heart. 944 00:57:18,560 --> 00:57:22,060 Just put in the practice, put in the work, 945 00:57:22,060 --> 00:57:25,668 and do your interview prep and you can do it. 946 00:57:25,668 --> 00:57:26,310 You can get in. 947 00:57:27,660 --> 00:57:31,190 So with that, I'm gonna head out. 948 00:57:31,190 --> 00:57:32,220 Thank you so much, everybody. 949 00:57:32,220 --> 00:57:33,490 Thank you, Abraham. 950 00:57:33,490 --> 00:57:34,421 Take care y'all. 951 00:57:34,421 --> 00:57:35,492 [SOUND]