Have you been working on LeetCode difficulties but don't think your interview performance is improving? Do you sometimes feel that you can think of solutions but can never quite settle on the best one? Do you frequently run out of time before answering a question completely? Do you frequently find it difficult to answer challenging questions?
As a career and interview coach who was once a Google software engineer, I've worked with several clients who have encountered this issue over the years. Furthermore, if you were one of my clients, I would explain that your lack of intelligence is not the issue. It's also not a matter of you not working hard enough.
Most likely, your practice is incorrect.
Perhaps you have been completing the Blind 75. Perhaps you're merely using the Cracking the Coding Interview sample difficulties. I don't mind if you grab questions from anywhere. No matter how many questions you practice, it won't assist you much if you're employing the incorrect approach.
Anyone who has lifted weights in a gym knows how important flexibility and proper form are. To get the most out of your workout, you need those components. In a similar vein, in order to get the most out of your time when answering LeetCode questions, you should practice effective problem-solving strategies.
Remembering the actual interview
Since many of you may not be aware with the real-world procedures involved in technical interviews, many of you practice LeetCode issues improperly. Let's take a short look at it.
Above all, you must realize that a technical interview is a cooperative process for addressing problems. It won't be you solving a LeetCode question on your own during the actual interview. You will converse with a genuine human being. That's crucial to mention since, while practicing alone, you're probably not considering the necessity of speaking out to someone and asking questions.
The lack of human intervention in LeetCode issues is by far their worst flaw. Every detail required to address the problem upfront must be included in the inquiry. Your interviewer will most likely withhold some facts during a genuine interview to gauge your ability to handle uncertainty. Stated differently, they want to know if you plan to follow up with inquiries or not.
Furthermore, if you're going in the incorrect path, a LeetCode query is unable to lead you. It is unable to provide you with an assessment of how sound your strategy is. This is all important since your interviewer will evaluate your response to criticism. As your interviewer, I will be looking for an answer that goes beyond "I don't know" if I ask you whether you can optimize your solution.
Oh, and your interviewer is under no need to provide you test cases or examples. It's wonderful that some people would do it out of helpfulness. However, if you're accustomed to receiving all of that information in your LeetCode questions, you'll find it difficult to come up with solid examples and test cases during the actual interview.
An improved method
Now that you have the background information you need, let's discuss how I believe you should approach studying sample questions. I made sure I get the most out of every interview question by using the following tactic. These stages will demonstrate how I used "The Six Steps," my own framework for addressing problems, to answer sample interview questions.
1) Obtain a piece of paper to code on (not an IDE)
Make sure you are prepared for your mock interview before you start. Using a whiteboard, pencil, and paper, or a computer with a text editor or lightweight code editor like Notepad++ or TextPad, are your options for writing code. A full-featured IDE is something you should try to stay away from because it usually has functionality that you won't find in a genuine coding interview.
Make sure you select anything that your fake interviewer can see and alter if you're working with one of them.
2) Choose whether to rehearse alone or with a fake interviewer (highly advised).
If you rehearse a LeetCode question with someone else who will evaluate you as an interviewer, that's the best way to go. It may surprise you to learn that they are not required to be programmers! Naturally, it's great to have a fellow software engineer or developer, but what matters most is finding someone with whom you can communicate and who can provide feedback. My wife, who is most obviously not technical, helped me study for the Google interview and gave me excellent comments on my presence and manner.
It's normal that there will be occasions when you must study by yourself. It will be imperative that you hold yourself responsible for not providing yourself with any more information than a fake interviewer would in an actual interview.
Oh, and remember to express your gratitude and admiration to everyone you work with. You may always give them something in exchange for their time, be it cash, gift cards, coffee, or a public appreciation.
3) Press the timepiece.
Most interviews have a 45–60 minute time limit. Based on what to expect from the real interview, determine how long you want to spend completing your mock interview. Recall that you want to make things as grounded as you can. Once allotted time has elapsed, cease working. It's critical to develop your ability to perform efficiently under time restrictions.
A word of caution: if you're just starting off with interview preparation, you might want to only benchmark yourself a few times to gauge your performance. You should continue timing yourself; don't stop at a set hour. Continue until you either come up with the best answer or run out of other options.
4) Clearly state the issue
The first thing your pretend interviewer will do is read the question aloud. You are not allowed to look at the sample question, examples, or limitations at any point during the interview. You should rely only on the person conducting the fake interview for any information required to answer the puzzle. To avoid having to ask your interviewer for information that they have already disclosed, it is crucial that you take notes while they are speaking.
FAQs
Is 300 LeetCode questions enough?
If you balance difficulty, concentrate on relevant themes, and make sure you grasp important ideas, 300 LeetCode questions can certainly be plenty. But more important than the quantity of questions answered are the level of your preparation and your comprehension.
Is 500 LeetCode questions enough?
If you have answered at least 15 medium-level questions for each, this is more than sufficient. You can now on to more challenging issues. Start with the most frequently asked questions. You can see the firms they have visited and how many times in Leetcode.
How many LeetCode questions for internship?
Utilize the first 100–150 queries on LeetCode, or only the 100 most often requested ones.
Shantun Parmar
Have you been working on LeetCode difficulties but don't think your interview performance is improving? Do you sometimes feel that you can think of solutions but can never quite settle on the best one? Do you frequently run out of time before answering a question completely? Do you frequently find it difficult to answer challenging questions?
As a career and interview coach who was once a Google software engineer, I've worked with several clients who have encountered this issue over the years. Furthermore, if you were one of my clients, I would explain that your lack of intelligence is not the issue. It's also not a matter of you not working hard enough.
Most likely, your practice is incorrect.
Perhaps you have been completing the Blind 75. Perhaps you're merely using the Cracking the Coding Interview sample difficulties. I don't mind if you grab questions from anywhere. No matter how many questions you practice, it won't assist you much if you're employing the incorrect approach.
Anyone who has lifted weights in a gym knows how important flexibility and proper form are. To get the most out of your workout, you need those components. In a similar vein, in order to get the most out of your time when answering LeetCode questions, you should practice effective problem-solving strategies.
Remembering the actual interview
Since many of you may not be aware with the real-world procedures involved in technical interviews, many of you practice LeetCode issues improperly. Let's take a short look at it.
Above all, you must realize that a technical interview is a cooperative process for addressing problems. It won't be you solving a LeetCode question on your own during the actual interview. You will converse with a genuine human being. That's crucial to mention since, while practicing alone, you're probably not considering the necessity of speaking out to someone and asking questions.
The lack of human intervention in LeetCode issues is by far their worst flaw. Every detail required to address the problem upfront must be included in the inquiry. Your interviewer will most likely withhold some facts during a genuine interview to gauge your ability to handle uncertainty. Stated differently, they want to know if you plan to follow up with inquiries or not.
Furthermore, if you're going in the incorrect path, a LeetCode query is unable to lead you. It is unable to provide you with an assessment of how sound your strategy is. This is all important since your interviewer will evaluate your response to criticism. As your interviewer, I will be looking for an answer that goes beyond "I don't know" if I ask you whether you can optimize your solution.
Oh, and your interviewer is under no need to provide you test cases or examples. It's wonderful that some people would do it out of helpfulness. However, if you're accustomed to receiving all of that information in your LeetCode questions, you'll find it difficult to come up with solid examples and test cases during the actual interview.
An improved method
Now that you have the background information you need, let's discuss how I believe you should approach studying sample questions. I made sure I get the most out of every interview question by using the following tactic. These stages will demonstrate how I used "The Six Steps," my own framework for addressing problems, to answer sample interview questions.
1) Obtain a piece of paper to code on (not an IDE)
Make sure you are prepared for your mock interview before you start. Using a whiteboard, pencil, and paper, or a computer with a text editor or lightweight code editor like Notepad++ or TextPad, are your options for writing code. A full-featured IDE is something you should try to stay away from because it usually has functionality that you won't find in a genuine coding interview.
Make sure you select anything that your fake interviewer can see and alter if you're working with one of them.
2) Choose whether to rehearse alone or with a fake interviewer (highly advised).
If you rehearse a LeetCode question with someone else who will evaluate you as an interviewer, that's the best way to go. It may surprise you to learn that they are not required to be programmers! Naturally, it's great to have a fellow software engineer or developer, but what matters most is finding someone with whom you can communicate and who can provide feedback. My wife, who is most obviously not technical, helped me study for the Google interview and gave me excellent comments on my presence and manner.
It's normal that there will be occasions when you must study by yourself. It will be imperative that you hold yourself responsible for not providing yourself with any more information than a fake interviewer would in an actual interview.
Oh, and remember to express your gratitude and admiration to everyone you work with. You may always give them something in exchange for their time, be it cash, gift cards, coffee, or a public appreciation.
3) Press the timepiece.
Most interviews have a 45–60 minute time limit. Based on what to expect from the real interview, determine how long you want to spend completing your mock interview. Recall that you want to make things as grounded as you can. Once allotted time has elapsed, cease working. It's critical to develop your ability to perform efficiently under time restrictions.
A word of caution: if you're just starting off with interview preparation, you might want to only benchmark yourself a few times to gauge your performance. You should continue timing yourself; don't stop at a set hour. Continue until you either come up with the best answer or run out of other options.
4) Clearly state the issue
The first thing your pretend interviewer will do is read the question aloud. You are not allowed to look at the sample question, examples, or limitations at any point during the interview. You should rely only on the person conducting the fake interview for any information required to answer the puzzle. To avoid having to ask your interviewer for information that they have already disclosed, it is crucial that you take notes while they are speaking.
FAQs
Is 300 LeetCode questions enough?
If you balance difficulty, concentrate on relevant themes, and make sure you grasp important ideas, 300 LeetCode questions can certainly be plenty. But more important than the quantity of questions answered are the level of your preparation and your comprehension.
Is 500 LeetCode questions enough?
If you have answered at least 15 medium-level questions for each, this is more than sufficient. You can now on to more challenging issues. Start with the most frequently asked questions. You can see the firms they have visited and how many times in Leetcode.
How many LeetCode questions for internship?
Utilize the first 100–150 queries on LeetCode, or only the 100 most often requested ones.