Tips on tech interviews by Gayle Mac

1. how companies evaluate tech interviews

• you gotta focus on communications
  1. Talk a lot loud to express thought process
  2. At least, try to summarize what you try to do
  3. little mumbles are better than staying silent

2. how to approach behavioral questions

• short intro

  1. quick shows of success
  2. key strories (let the interview ask for details)
  3. hobbies (tech / non-tech)

• prepare to dicuss at least 2-3 projects in detail

  1. techinial role
  2. soft skills
  3. about the bad stuff
• mistakes
• failures

3. 7 steps to solve algorithm problems

1. listen
2. example
3. brute force
4. optimize
5. walk through your algorithm
6. code on a writeboard or on a paper
   • coding style matters
   • consistnet braces
   • descriptive variables
   • modulize
7. test
   • analyse
   • use test cases

4. 3 algorithm strategies

1. BUD

   • Bottlenecks
     • what details make the algorithm slow?
     • how can we improve that?
   • Unneccessary work
     • is there any unneccessary work to make the algo faster?
   • Duplicated work
     • same with the above

2. Space / Time trade-offs

   • Hashtable : good example of space/time trade-offs

3. DIY

   • Use your brain to find a shortcut algorithm
   • Try a large & generic example

Useful Links

How companies evaluate tech interviews - Gayle Mc

How to approach behavioral questions - Gayle Mc

7 Step to solve algorithm problems - Gayle Mc

3 Algorithm Strategies - Gayle Mc