As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, the pressure to land a coveted position at FAANG, MAANG, or top tech companies can be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences that an engineer can go through, as the outcome can literally change the trajectory of your career. If you’re looking to land your dream job at one of these companies, you must be as prepared as possible for the interview process, as you’ll be competing with some of the best minds out there.
Earlier FAANG interviews were much more straightforward, where interviewers would focus on basic algorithms, data structures, or languages. With time tech interviews have also evolved, with interviewers seeking real-life experiences and unique problem-solving capabilities. Their questions have also evolved to test specific abilities, such as pressure intake, out-of-the-box thinking, teamwork, soft skills, writing communication, organization skills, and working environment expertise. Now, you just cannot pass a programming job interview with minimal preparations. Hence you need to also alter your approach for these interviews.
Unfortunately, there are a plethora of me-too resources available online that just rehash already existing content, which takes an employee’s valuable time and effort without considering the challenges the interviewers have to pass through to pass these interviews. We have shortlisted some of the right resources for the FAANG interview that can give you an edge and increase your chances of getting the interview and landing your dream job.
First on our list is LeetCode: This site offers a wide variety of coding challenges that can help you prepare for the types of questions from easy to hard that you might encounter during a FAANG interview. The platform has a built-in code editor and a feature that allows you to see how other users have solved the problem. This can be particularly helpful in understanding different approaches to solving a problem and learning new techniques. It also has a community of users who share tips and strategies for decoding questions, which can help prepare for an interview. While we don’t recommend LeetCode as a sole source for FAANG interview prep, it can be helpful in conjunction with other platforms.
Interviewhelp.io: Interviewhelp is a platform that allows you to practice coding interviews with experienced engineers from top tech companies, including FAANG and MAANG companies. This can be a great way to practice in a low-stakes environment, get real-world experience and feedback on your performance, and get suggestions on how to improve. The site also includes a library of past interview sessions you can watch and learn from. The platform also gives you advice on how to polish your resume and improve your answering skills, which can be incredibly valuable in preparing for your actual interview.
GeeksforGeeks: GeeksforGeeks is an excellent website that offers a wide range of tutorials and articles on various computer science topics. It’s a great resource for learning about different algorithms and data structures and has a wide range of practice questions that can help you prepare for an interview. The GeeksforGeeks team writes detailed explanatory articles on essential programming concepts such as data structure and algorithms like Trie, Red Black Tree, Self-Balanced Tree, etc. The website is a great resource to find programming questions but you need to spend the time to find good ones.
Another great resource is HackerRank: Like LeetCode, HackerRank offers a variety of coding challenges and competitions that can help you sharpen your problem-solving skills and get familiar with the types of questions you might encounter during an interview. The platform also has a feature that allows you to see how other users have solved the problem, as well as a leaderboard to track your progress. HackerRank also has a feature that allows you to filter the problems by company, which is a great way to focus on the types of questions specific to the company you are interviewing with. HackerRank is also used by many companies for technical assessment and remote interviews which means if you have a strong profile on HackerRank you may get matched with a suitable opportunity.
Glassdoor is another valuable resource for those preparing for a FAANG interview. This site provides company reviews and interview questions from past candidates, giving you a sense of what to expect during the interview process. Additionally, Glassdoor has a feature that allows you to research specific interview questions and see how other candidates have answered them. This can be incredibly helpful in preparing for your interview, as you’ll better understand what the interviewer is looking for and how to craft your responses. Glassdoor works as a meetup point for different types of developers who want to share their questions and interview experiences. Glassdoor almost has a library of 4 million questions.
TopCoder: Lastly, TopCoder is a website that offers coding challenges and competitions that can help you sharpen your problem-solving skills and get familiar with the types of questions you might encounter during an interview. The website is a comprehensive resource for solving Dynamic programming problems, where you will learn how to solve DP-based problems using this real-world example. You can also use their problem archive to solve many recursion and dynamic programming-based problems like PaintBallFreeForAll, PackageSizes, and CountTilins to further improve your Dynamic Programming skills. It also has a community of users who share tips and strategies for solving questions, which can be helpful for preparing for an interview.
Other popular online resources, specially for technical program managers include The TPM Blog by Mario Gerard, TPMify, igotanoffer and more.
In conclusion, the key to acing a FAANG interview is to be well-prepared and practice, practice, practice. These resources provide a great way to practice the types of questions and problem-solving techniques that are commonly used in FAANG interviews. By working through the challenges and studying the tips and tricks provided, you can increase your chances of acing the interview and landing your dream job at a FAANG company. So, start preparing today, and you’ll be well on your way to your dream job in 2023!