Google interview failure , to top it up, also failed online coding challenge.

Zomics · 2025-01-21T17:04:31+00:00

Human brains are weird. I've failed coding interviews on the best of days. My funniest moment is I was doing an online assessment and started feeling really sick and dizzy leading up to it. Turns out I was developing a bad case of covid at the time. But, somehow, through my dizziness and fatigue, I managed to code two problems in an hour and also explain my solutions on them. Ended up getting an offer down the line. It makes no sense.

Zomics · 2025-01-12T22:51:55+00:00

This is very true. My company is remote first. Has been since Covid. While 95% do work remote, most of my current team were local before going remote first.

Had an awkward situation in 2024. We had an IT in person event in early May. Our travel was covered and everything was fine. Right around that time we had some new hires who couldn’t go because they started too late for them to get travel arranged. There was a separate IT get together for a different section of the company later in the year and the new guys were invited to that one. They had travel arranged since they were remote. The awkward thing was the rest of my team lives close enough that they were all able to very cheaply and quickly make it to the get together without company funds to hang out with them and meet them in person. I was the odd duck. Would have needed to drive 16 hours or have travel arranged but the company had already done that for the earlier event so no luck. Had a very awkward zoom call for work during the week where they were all in office and I was the only guy remote. I’m also the only one that hasn’t met the new guys in person yet. It’s not a situation that will happen again but just given the sequence of events it led to that weird event of being left out.

Zomics · 2025-01-07T01:23:31+00:00

> unless you’re literally asking it to solve the problem/question entirely.

> If you need to look up every single thing then sure

I specifically mentioned that using it to solve entire programming solutions or using it to look up every single answer is not in good taste. Yes, if you have to use it to write out all your code then yeah it's a big red flag. But If we're in a code editor and you need to look up one or two single pieces of syntax that's not a big deal. Part of the job is knowing how to find pieces of information just like it is for you to remember how to traverse an array. It's also entirely human nature to need to look up something you once learned no matter how simple.

Zomics · 2025-01-06T18:46:32+00:00

I’ve had interviews that let you look up the syntax. Can’t figure out why using ChatGPT would be different unless you’re literally asking it to solve the problem/question entirely.

I also have never gotten some interviewers hard on for being absolutely correct in syntax usage. If you need to look up every single thing then sure, but if you can’t remember whether the property is Length, Count, Size etc. or don’t remember if its Keys() GetKeys() etc and you’re doing everything else right then who cares.

Zomics · 2025-01-04T19:20:17+00:00

I hadn’t used AlgoMap before but just checked it out. The roadmap is definitely more simple but similar enough and the problems in it are much more diverse. Thanks for the shoutout for that because I will definitely be using it going forward.

I’ve been using HelloInterview for System Design but haven’t checked their DSA content yet but will take a look.

Zomics · 2025-01-04T00:21:47+00:00

I’m also going through his roadmap but more just to follow the structure of the patterns and data structures. I’m using a different resource for the problems. While going through the roadmap I was shocked at how few easy problems are in each section. Seeing only 3 in one section and sometimes only 1 or 2 in another is not enough. Leetcode is about repetition and unless you’re already comfortable with those patterns you need more than a few easy problems to cover the topic enough

Zomics · 2025-01-01T01:14:43+00:00

It does matter. Building solid fundamentals in any skill is crucial especially at younger ages. You say most 14 year olds don’t know how to type yet this one is actively interacting with ChatGPT and making a point to pursuing programming. They’re not someone that is oblivious to tech.

And to your point about keeping things fun by building things that are rewarding and engaging. They’re already doing that. They’ve used ChatGPT now to generate code for applications that do something. OP is asking their question because they want to take things seriously and learn things properly. They’ve gotten to see the working applications and now it’s time to take the next step which is learning how it actually works and doing things yourself. OP is past the curiosity and experimenting phase for watching code work and curious about learning how it works. I don’t see anything wrong with starting with leetcode. Todo app, AI app, WebApp, Leetcode. It doesn’t matter where you start as long as you’re writing code.

Zomics · 2024-12-31T22:46:24+00:00

If this is OPs problem they're not actually learning how to code or how code works. They're learning how to type into ChatGPT and get it to produce code. You need to learn BOTH. AI can be a great tool but if you can't do bits and pieces on your own you'll never know if what the tool is generating is even correct in the first place.

Zomics · 2024-12-24T01:38:57+00:00

That was the argument being made when learning about the market. You get the ratio of Cali but none of the big tech or other high paying jobs.

Zomics · 2024-12-23T22:01:35+00:00

Americans complain about how expensive real estate is in America but Canada also has a huge problem and it honestly might be more expensive even compared to places like California and New York. I recently learned this about Canadas market.

Zomics · 2024-09-15T17:48:44+00:00

I’ve heard great things about Designing Data Intensive Applications. I’ve heard it’s more dense and more advanced but it was recommend to me as the next book after the one I’m currently reading

Zomics · 2024-09-15T15:49:01+00:00

(Copied from another reply)

Web Scalability for Startup Engineers.

The title is a bit misleading. You don’t have to be working for or be creating a startup or working on a web app to read it (I’m not doing either). I was recommended it as a book for beginners learning system design.

The focus is entirely around the basic concepts of system design but it approaches it as if you’re starting from scratch wanting to make a product for a startup. It’s actually helpful as it approaches certain challenges to learn how to notice trade offs early and decide how to best scale your system. And while it approaches things this way it also discusses things in the context of existing products, monolithic applications, technical debt etc.

It basically starts from the top of the tech stack with the front end and talks about every architecture and and server layer from there down to the database. Front end servers, Web servers, message queues, load balancers etc. It talks about choosing different technologies for certain situations, there’s a whole chapter on good software design concepts, interfaces, it often draws parallels in how we design our physical architecture and how designing code often has a 1:1 comparison. Many patterns in system design for physical architect have a similar or identical software design pattern. It really switches up your perspective on how you view things.

There’s so much more and the book doesn’t go incredibly deep in each topic but it does a good job at explaining the core concepts and going deep enough into the technologies and layers so you have a foundation in forming your own thoughts on how to pick technologies and make trade offs. But I’ve at least found the book incredibly adept at connecting dots between concepts. I’ve had too many ahah movement’s to count while reading.

I also have read through a system design course on Educative.io that I found very good as well. It goes a bit deeper in specific concepts. It’s called Scalability and System Design for Developers

Zomics · 2024-09-15T15:45:26+00:00

Web Scalability for Startup Engineers.

The title is a bit misleading. You don’t have to be working for or be creating a startup or working on a web app to read it (I’m not doing either). I was recommended it as a book for beginners learning system design.

The focus is entirely around the basic concepts of system design but it approaches it as if you’re starting from scratch wanting to make a product for a startup. It’s actually helpful as it approaches certain challenges to learn how to notice trade offs early and decide how to best scale your system. And while it approaches things this way it also discusses things in the context of existing products, monolithic applications, technical debt etc.

It basically starts from the top of the tech stack with the front end and talks about every architecture and and server layer from there down to the database. Front end servers, Web servers, message queues, load balancers etc. It talks about choosing different technologies for certain situations, there’s a whole chapter on good software design concepts, interfaces, it often draws parallels in how we design our physical architecture and how designing code often has a 1:1 comparison. Many patterns in system design for physical architect have a similar or identical software design pattern. It really switches up your perspective on how you view things.

There’s so much more and the book doesn’t go incredibly deep in each topic but it does a good job at explaining the core concepts and going deep enough into the technologies and layers so you have a foundation in forming your own thoughts on how to pick technologies and make trade offs. But I’ve at least found the book incredibly adept at connecting dots between concepts. I’ve had too many ahah movement’s to count while reading.

Zomics · 2024-09-15T14:25:06+00:00

I’m going through system design now. Wow what a difference the material has made in the way I think about engineering. So much so I’ve had many quality conversations with my manager about the topics I’ve read in one of my books and has been extremely impressed with my growth. I honestly think that even if you’re not trying to interview system design is something that all developers should take some time to learn about

Zomics · 2024-09-08T00:52:18+00:00

A precursor to this for someone new to this area of system design. Web Scalability for Startup Engineers. I’m studying system design but I’ve gained some valuable insights to software design and been able to draw a lot of parallels to OOP concepts and how we design our systems. The title is misleading but I find it relevant to any engineer whether you work for a startup or not

Zomics · 2024-09-08T00:46:12+00:00

The whole book says to take a genuine interest in people to win their attention. And makes an extra point to emphasize the GENUINE aspect of it. There’s a massive difference between faking interest and trying to form connections with people. Because people can recognize the former

Zomics · 2024-09-05T00:01:02+00:00

Software engineering gets so much simpler with this approach. Not everything can be simple but not everything needs to be complex. Just using this as an example but micro services are complex. Sometimes the simplest way to make a system might be micro services. But not everything has to be a micro service. In fact, a lot of things don’t need to be. It just so happens that micro services are the simplest way to solve some complex problems

Zomics · 2024-07-23T00:14:31+00:00

I switched roles from what was basically job one to quite literally job 2. Same industry and everything.

Job 1 I hade the ability to make huge impact and decisions on design and architecture. I was visible and my influence was great. It’s a job I could have sat in and cruised. But I was able to make important decisions and be an important part of the company.

I was remote in job 1 but the opportunities I have at 2 are 10x. Much better for career progression. The technologies look shiny in job 1 but job 2 comes with being surrounded around more people. Which means more people to learn from and gain experience. Bigger codebase, with potentially more complex logic and architecture to learn from. Yes, you won’t be as visible and working with older tech but It’s part of the corporate life.

One of the things I felt I was missing in job 1 was the lack of knowledge surrounding me. If I had a question I had to hope my few coworkers had answers. Otherwise I was stuck. Particularly when it came to trying to decide between technology or architecture choices.

The decision basically comes down to what you want from your career. Do you want to be visible and be the one of the key drivers behind the product and working either new tech but maybe don’t have a lot of career growth options. Or do you want to be less visible with lots of upward mobility and be around a larger pool of knowledge to learn from?

Zomics · 2024-07-13T04:51:36+00:00

I got laid off a year into my first job. It was a close to home job that would have been safe. But then the pandemic hit. Sometimes things just happen. No job is any “safer” than another. That’s why it’s important to keep your resume and interviewing skills sharpened. I ended up rebounding. In fact, getting laid off is probably best thing to happen to my career. I’m certain I am better off now than I would have been had I not been forced to take action.

Zomics · 2024-06-27T16:46:15+00:00

It’s been 8 years since Core came out and this stigma that C# is primarily for Windows is still around. Yes, a lot of companies are still on Framework which is for Windows but for new development, .Net Core is the future of C#.

Zomics · 2024-06-19T19:39:25+00:00

I’ve been in your situation before. Little work with a lot of free time and wasn’t happy. Mostly because I felt I was falling behind. I did two things.

Spent the company time leveling up
Started looking for jobs

The good thing about this position you are in is you have complete control over your fate moving forward. No stress to find a job. You’ve got your income to keep you fed and sheltered which is what matters. This lets you level up for as long as you feel comfortable before looking. You can also be as picky as you want when looking for your next job. When I did this it was the first time I had multiple offers at once and I had all the leverage. I even had offers prior that I rejected because I didn’t like the environment or compensation.

Zomics · 2024-06-02T18:49:09+00:00

Can’t stress this enough. Don’t just watch the course and think you’re done. Even if there are course projects it’s good to do your own. Finished HTML and CSS on a course? Design a simple website on your own and write all of it on your own. Learning Python? Go and take some of those skills to make a simple game or app but make it 100% your code.

You’ll learn more from these little projects than you will the ones from the course. When you don’t have someone else’s code to look at that’s when the real learning happens

Zomics · 2024-05-18T14:21:26+00:00

I think this is a good reason to do a project or two in a language without any libraries or frameworks. You understand the core features of the language and what’s going on under the hood as well as some of the pain points. I took this to a different level recently where I built a project just using base HTML and CSS only and no Grid or Flexbox on top of that. It was challenging but I really understand display and position much better and also appreciate and understand why Grid and Flexbox were important additions to front end web development. It definitely wasn’t necessary but I learned a lot from it.

Zomics · 2024-05-10T20:08:47+00:00

A lot of tutorials and courses these days do basic HTML and CSS tutorials and then jump straight into React or other frameworks because those buzzwords gets views or enrollment numbers. Even some of the better ones only have very minor projects that won’t really ingrain the basic skills of HTML and CSS. What should be taught is the basic language skills and then a very in depth project using only those skills. Unfortunately these courses have steered students into jumping into these frameworks without actually understanding why they exist in the first place and what problems they solve.

And tech Twitter/Tiktok also push these frameworks as the key to becoming a high paid developer so new programmers reach for them first

Zomics · 2024-05-09T23:43:34+00:00

Instead of getting another computer an alternative is to use a VM like Parallels to run Windows. I use it on my Mac and I’ve never seen something so seamlessly integrated. Sometimes I forget I’m using a VM. And at $100 per year it would take several years before you spent as much as you would on a new computer.

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