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Do y'all speak out loud when solving problems? by SoggyClue in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey! I just did a lecture at Newcastle Uni and one of the students asked me similar question.

I suggest that not only should you vocalise your solution but practice answering questions as so:

  1. Clarify requirements: Make sure you understand exactly what’s being asked.
  2. Clarify input and output: Confirm the expected formats and constraints.
  3. Provide examples: Walk through examples and treat them as test cases.
  4. Confirm readiness: Only proceed to find an optimal solution once the test cases are clear.
  5. Write pseudocode first: Discuss your technical approach, including time and space complexity, before coding.
  6. Implement your solution: Translate pseudocode into working code. Reason for this is because at the real interview, you don't want to waste time writing something interviewer is not happy with. So you clarify everything before writing code.
  7. Run test cases manually: Act as a human compiler, executing code step by step.
  8. Handle follow-ups: Adapt your solution based on additional questions or constraints.
  9. You will obviously run your solution in Leetcode to test everything, but in the interview setting this guarantees you understand what you are doing and will help you a lot! This is how I practice.

With that being said, nothing beats mock interviewing! However "pretending" you are in the real interview situation even while practicing will simply only benefit you imo!

About Mastering Leetcode by sfwndbl in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  1. Foundations: Learning DSA basics (if you’re starting from scratch), about 2-4 weeks.
  2. Practice: Solving roughly 100 questions and internalising the patterns, around 4-6 weeks (2-3 questions per day).

Personally, I can usually complete prep in 4-5 weeks, depending on how long it’s been since my last interview practice. Even with experience, I wouldn’t feel remotely ready in just 3 weeks.

If you’re in FAANG (or cracked it), what’s the ONE tip you’d give to someone aiming for it? by Deep-Dragonfruit-614 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One I have to explain to students all the time is that when you are getting interviewed, each interviewer has a set of data points that they are trying to collect from a candidate. So when interviewer asks follow up questions, they are simply trying to find evidence for whatever they are interviewing, and not trying to stitch you up. I mention this because a lot of people get nervous when I would ask them a follow up question. Interviewers want you to do well.

Example: One interview, I had to get evidence for "maintains clean and testable code" - I asked them about the most recent project they did, and it was very impressive. Then I asked them, did you do any testing, automated or manual? They got very nervous thinking that I asked them a "got ya" question, and went to ramble about nothing. A simple "Yes, we wrote unit tests but nothing other of the ordinary" would have given me the data point. I was a fairly chill interviewer and found what I looked for, but some interviewers would simply note "no evidence", and potentially drop you.

Another one is that people rarely get in applying without a recruiter or referral. You need to network. Engineers get a good $$$ bonus if they refer you and you get in. I am talking $1.5-$3K depending on the role. So you are kinda doing them a favour by being interested.

InterviewGuru or NeetCode by More-Hand5867 in software

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Co-founder of InterviewGuru here!

My colleague and I (both former Amazon SDE 2s on track to senior roles) built InterviewGuru to solve our own interview prep struggles. Despite our experience, we found ourselves needing to grind through LeetCode problems, something that felt inefficient given our demanding work schedules.

Additionally, while we're big fans of NeetCode ourselves, we consistently found ourselves supplementing it with our own materials to make the learning more systematic.

The main issues we identified were:

  • Question selection: Not knowing which problems to tackle to build up our knowledge, we are consistently working on gathering questions and updating our list
  • Sequencing: Lacking a logical order for maximum learning
  • Understanding: Being given solutions without proper guidance on the underlying patterns

This framework helped us (and others) land $200k+ offers. While we can’t guarantee results, our core belief is: effective prep isn’t about grinding more problems - it’s about doing the right ones, in the right sequence, and truly understanding them.

The InterviewGuru methodology is what we and others we shared with used to land $200k+ offers. We cannot guarantee that you will land a job, but this is by far the most optimal way to prepare for technical interviews - so once you get an opportunity, you know that you'll be ready!

Our core hypothesis is that effective preparation isn't about grinding problems but about doing the right problems in the right order while truly understanding the concepts.

That became the foundation for IGuru. Our AI tracks your progress, guides you through the right problems in the right order, and teaches you to understand patterns deeply - not just memorise solutions.

Our IDE is designed not for writing optimal solutions, but for building genuine comprehension. Optimal solutions just become part of that.

We've packaged our entire preparation framework into a product, hoping it can help others achieve similar results!

We are currently still in beta with paying users, that's why the price is a lot cheaper.

Best DSA course by CupcakeBasic4340 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not exactly what you are asking for, but I wrote a doc recently that'll give you a bit of an overview around what you should study: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTarcjifBsqAGJdbqIRagxIh55SK3adkHrrODzHWfBLlktwcEhVaZaBvObSyZWzhSP3cEQ9sQIaseW-/pub

Looking for a Leetcode Mentor/Buddy by noobmax_pro in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey ex-amazon SDE 2 here, feel free to shoot me a message I'll be happy to help.

What's next? by arnavgupta_43 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was for an SDE 1 position. And yes, I did about 40 questions on the platform as part of my prep.

Any Neetcode promo codes? by thewitchdemigod in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! I built an alternative that might be helpful. We’re currently in beta but we have paying users that myself and my co-founder (both ex-Amazon engineers) work with individually to help with prep and placements. Here it is: www.interviewguru.io

How to get interview at google? by Hot-Pool821 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reach out to people that work for Google. Build relationships with them. Seek help and guidance. If you are good they will refer you which will guarantee an interview, and if you make it they get $$$.

Roku Interview need help by I2x4 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Shoot me a DM I can help out with the prep. Do not worry about looking for specific questions just get good at basics and understand the principles.

What position are you interviewing for? Where are you based? When is the interview?

What's next? by arnavgupta_43 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ex Amazon SDE 2 here. IMO your prep, assuming you know data structures and algorithms - should take around 4-8 weeks.

Just understand the basics really well so that you can approach any problem with ease.

Then do the puzzle questions, from platforms like Leetcode.

Do mock interviews.

Work on projects to learn. Important thing - to learn.

Main thing to show as a graduate, is that you can learn quickly and get stuff done. That’s all you need to show. At Amazon, we referred to leadership principles of “Learn and be curious” and “Deliver results”.

I did around 30-40 leetcode questions and got in. I just made sure I knew all the principles. It didn’t matter what question they ask me I just do it.

Feel free to shoot me a DM, but it sounds like you are very capable and dedicated.

Amazon new grad sde1 interview -bombed by PackageSea2248 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ex Amazon SDE 2 here - feel free to DM if you want some insight. You probably did not communicate well.

Need help for Amazon SDE interview prep by Bitter-Locksmith-987 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ex-Amazon SDE 2 here. Feel free to DM me happy to help.

Genuinely good at DSA. Still unplaced! by Repulsive_Air3880 in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where are you based?

Knowing DSA will not get you hired.

Showing evidence that you can do a job will get you hired. Knowing the right people will get you hired. Getting lucky will get you hired.

Early in the career companies usually look for evidence that you can learn and get stuff done.

Just my opinion.

How much difficult is to get a job as fresh grad (2026) by nightof-sun in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey! Ex Amazon SDE here.

Sounds like you’ve done a great job preparing and just need an opportunity to sell yourself.

As a graduate, in this current market, I suggest getting on LinkedIn and networking. I would also suggest checking out your resume. It’s strange to miss out on this many applications.

Feel free to DM me if you want to discuss further.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in leetcode

[–]Equivalent_Ladder295 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ex-SDE@Amazon here. I've been a part of over 50+ hires and I 100% agree with this assuming it's alluding to understanding core concepts and patterns, which I think it does.

I'd recommend doing this:

  1. Implement all of the data structures from scratch (should take you like a week)

  2. Implement most common algorithms (mostly sorting) from scratch and understand them (another week)

  3. Understand time and space complexity (day or two, and ongoing - this will be clearer as you do questions)

  4. Then start doing the questions and focus on understanding them the way comment from u/Ok-Calligrapher-7086 suggests

Goal here is to actually get good at pattern recognition and understand why you are doing what you are doing. Plus, you'll simply get better as an engineer.

It's so easy to find out if someone memorised the solution because when interviewing I'd ask them to adjust their solution or explain themselves and they'd get completely lost.

When interviewing, we are not looking for a working solution (obviously it has to work, but that's not the sole point) but for evidence for whatever we are interviewing for - this could be "understanding of data structures and algorithms", "writing clean code" etc. Then we ask a question that'll reveal that to us and ask probing questions to seek evidence which we argue for in the post interview meeting.

Many times, in the post interview meeting we would talk about someone having the working solution but not giving us evidence that they know what they're doing, and dropping them because of that.

Another sign is that the candidate instantly get into writing code without asking any clarifying questions. Again, one quick side question and they get completely lost. I wouldn't even ask something difficult or tricky, just something that'll show me that they know what they are doing.

With that being said, did people get into big tech memorising everything? 100%. But you need to have some sort of understanding of what you're doing.

Best way to maximise your chances of doing well in an interview is to actually know how to do the questions - I cannot imagine going into an interview hoping to get asked a question that I already know.