At the end of last year I wanted to change jobs but I was paranoid about my raw algorithm knowledge. I've been a consultant for over 15 years. The last company I worked at for a decade. I've developed software given a specification, worked with teams to design applications, lead teams, presented to management of companies, and even was part owner in a company -- but I never was good at rote memorization.
I know my limitations and I know how to find answers.
So, for 4 months I practiced online programming problems, read interview books, and had my wife quiz me nightly. The nightly quizzes were whiteboard answers and I had to explain the solution enough that my wife understood.
In the end, I was interviewed at 4 companies: Daugherty Consulting, Google, Amazon, and Target. (For Google this was my second interview in two years. The first interview was a shock, I froze during the preliminary interview, and for two years contemplated if I'd ever quit my job.)
Daugherty never had me do whiteboard programming but did ask me some algorithmic questions. These were much easier to answer verbally. In the end I was told I didn't have enough experience in consulting working with large companies. (This was a bit of a shock but whatever.)
With Google, I never got past the first round. I felt very good with my solution coding in a Google Doc, but, they had wanted me to implement the Python bisect_left function. Instead I just used it to solve the problem.
At Amazon I made it onsite, but again, I failed to whiteboard a hashing function to their satisfaction. They told me it could have been overlooked if my architecture skills were stronger. They did complement me highly on my communication skills, which I appreciated. (I had worked for two weeks rewriting my accomplishments journal using the STAR[1] format.)
Target (where I work now), was completely different. I was given a choice of real-world-like problems to solve and a couple weeks to code. Two were pretty heavily algorithm/math-focused but the third was right up my alley -- implement a microservice backed by a data source and a different (potentially flaky) service. I took my time, wrote code I'm proud of, deployed it on Google Cloud, and explained my solution in detail to a Principal Engineer. There were still personality and experience questions (and I think also some algorithm questions) but nothing like my other experiences. It felt much more grounded in reality. Are you a solid developer, good communicator, and good fit for the company. In the end I didn't get the exact position I applied for but I'm still extremely happy.
My takeaways:
1. Maintaining an accomplishments journal as more beneficial than I could ever imagine. I write down everything I'm proud of - when I'm proud of it even if it seems minor. I can always delete it later. Also, the STAR format is actually really good.
2. Don't stagnate in learning. Technology and methodologies are changing all the time. I don't follow every fad or code in my spare time but I feel strongly taking some time periodically to maintain a level of expertise is a good investment.
3. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses really helped me focus while preparing for my interviews.
4. Learning from interviews and maintaining confidence was big for me. I took notes immediately after each interview of what I wanted to work on. I asked for as much feedback as I could get. These notes made it back to my journals and are things I'll refresh time-to-time because I know nothing is a given. Who knows what I'll want in another 15 years.
At the end of last year I wanted to change jobs but I was paranoid about my raw algorithm knowledge. I've been a consultant for over 15 years. The last company I worked at for a decade. I've developed software given a specification, worked with teams to design applications, lead teams, presented to management of companies, and even was part owner in a company -- but I never was good at rote memorization.
I know my limitations and I know how to find answers.
So, for 4 months I practiced online programming problems, read interview books, and had my wife quiz me nightly. The nightly quizzes were whiteboard answers and I had to explain the solution enough that my wife understood.
In the end, I was interviewed at 4 companies: Daugherty Consulting, Google, Amazon, and Target. (For Google this was my second interview in two years. The first interview was a shock, I froze during the preliminary interview, and for two years contemplated if I'd ever quit my job.)
Daugherty never had me do whiteboard programming but did ask me some algorithmic questions. These were much easier to answer verbally. In the end I was told I didn't have enough experience in consulting working with large companies. (This was a bit of a shock but whatever.)
With Google, I never got past the first round. I felt very good with my solution coding in a Google Doc, but, they had wanted me to implement the Python bisect_left function. Instead I just used it to solve the problem.
At Amazon I made it onsite, but again, I failed to whiteboard a hashing function to their satisfaction. They told me it could have been overlooked if my architecture skills were stronger. They did complement me highly on my communication skills, which I appreciated. (I had worked for two weeks rewriting my accomplishments journal using the STAR[1] format.)
Target (where I work now), was completely different. I was given a choice of real-world-like problems to solve and a couple weeks to code. Two were pretty heavily algorithm/math-focused but the third was right up my alley -- implement a microservice backed by a data source and a different (potentially flaky) service. I took my time, wrote code I'm proud of, deployed it on Google Cloud, and explained my solution in detail to a Principal Engineer. There were still personality and experience questions (and I think also some algorithm questions) but nothing like my other experiences. It felt much more grounded in reality. Are you a solid developer, good communicator, and good fit for the company. In the end I didn't get the exact position I applied for but I'm still extremely happy.
My takeaways:
1. Maintaining an accomplishments journal as more beneficial than I could ever imagine. I write down everything I'm proud of - when I'm proud of it even if it seems minor. I can always delete it later. Also, the STAR format is actually really good.
2. Don't stagnate in learning. Technology and methodologies are changing all the time. I don't follow every fad or code in my spare time but I feel strongly taking some time periodically to maintain a level of expertise is a good investment.
3. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses really helped me focus while preparing for my interviews.
4. Learning from interviews and maintaining confidence was big for me. I took notes immediately after each interview of what I wanted to work on. I asked for as much feedback as I could get. These notes made it back to my journals and are things I'll refresh time-to-time because I know nothing is a given. Who knows what I'll want in another 15 years.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation,_task,_action,_resul...