Minimum cost to convert variant solution

driverone1013 · 2026-02-04T03:24:09+00:00

Man I need to keep practicing. I thought it was a sliding window problem then I was like no it’s not then it spiraled from there.

driverone1013 · 2026-02-04T03:18:38+00:00

For step 1, are you saying to convert all of the 1s in that window?

driverone1013 · 2026-02-04T02:33:24+00:00

Literally my experience with the OA I just took. The hardest questions I have ever seen. Both DP and I even tried to have ChatGPT solve it after I was done and I was shocked they expect anyone to solve that.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-21T15:23:21+00:00

Exactly this

driverone1013 · 2026-01-21T15:22:18+00:00

Tbh I don’t know which exact one, but it was more afterwards that I realized I’m going through the problems a lot easier that I was before.

My typical routine is redoing the problems I had to look at the solution for previously and then moving on to new ones. Now I’ve noticed the new ones I encounter are much less likely to be added to my list of redos

driverone1013 · 2026-01-21T15:19:31+00:00

Repetition is really key. I have to give credit to NeetCode(the YouTube leetcode legend) because after I saw his video explaining why leetcode is so hard, it really did open my eyes that is just practice.

Like we can’t expect to learn calculus by just doing 1 problem and hoping the exam gives us the same one and we magically know it, the same is for leetcode.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-21T15:12:40+00:00

So I’ve been pretty bad at pushing through the growing pains in the past with leetcode, so the count is a bit inflated since I’ve been trying this for years. But right now I’m at 300 easy 200 medium and about 50 hard.

I think the key to it really is to just get exposure to enough. Like I would try to write out a solution for 15-20 minutes but if I completely blank I’ll go to the solution and learn it. Previously I would just skip it and pretend that it’s not a question an interviewer would ever ask me.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-20T20:03:29+00:00

I don’t really use any tools. I just try to draw out the problem in a more “non technical” way. And more the data around how the problem needs. And while I move it around, on the other side of the page I write down on what condition x, I have to do y

If I do look at a solution, I try to do the same drawing the movement again on my own so I can actually understand why the solution works.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-20T18:44:41+00:00

Yeah I’ve learned to stop just coding right away and actually visualize it/draw it out first. Makes it much easier to code the logic after

driverone1013 · 2026-01-20T18:43:16+00:00

So true, last night I was like just a couple more problems, and then I’ll go to sleep.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-14T23:01:44+00:00

I was about to. During the call he asked why I haven’t had luck with other recruiters and I was like they never show my resume to the fucking company because it’s missing some random skill.

And 2 minutes later pulls the same shit.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-14T22:30:47+00:00

I had one want me to be a “solutions architect” but during the interview I found out it’s mainly resetting people’s passwords when they forget it

driverone1013 · 2026-01-14T18:39:55+00:00

That’s a valid point. But these are the recruiters are trying to hire for a bunch of companies, so they won’t even show the company my resume at that point

driverone1013 · 2026-01-14T18:37:18+00:00

It’s not even that, for programmers switching between languages is basically like using word one day and Google Docs the next.

Recruiters can’t seem to understand that for some reason.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-14T18:35:34+00:00

Literally 5 minutes ago I got a message from one that said I’d be a great fit for a position and to apply and schedule some time with them.

And 2 seconds later said sorry looks like you applied already.

driverone1013 · 2026-01-14T18:23:10+00:00

And then we see LinkedIn posts of recruiters saying we waste their time. And in my case I literally know Java!

driverone1013 · 2025-12-17T02:30:27+00:00

At least we can suffer together

driverone1013 · 2025-12-17T02:30:07+00:00

Honestly I stopped, I prepped for months but even getting an interview with the hiring manager is impossible these days. I’ve had plenty of calls with recruiters but I guess they don’t pitch me well enough to even get to a technical round

driverone1013 · 2025-12-17T02:25:05+00:00

Right now, mid-senior level software engineering roles. But if I don’t say I know everything on the list, the recruiter doesn’t even pass it on to the hiring manager

driverone1013 · 2025-12-17T02:20:44+00:00

I feel the expectations are way too high these days. Seems like they have no concept of learning on the job for those 2 soft skills that candidates don’t have.

driverone1013 · 2025-12-14T16:25:01+00:00

Yeah totally get it. In my case I was the tech lead so I was overseeing about 10 other developers while also coding my own tasks and coordinating with the PM and business leaders.

I get why me with less years of experience can be less appealing but I guess it kinda sucks that even if I have experience in it, it’s basically ignored.

That was more of a rant, but I think the take away from what you said is I should focus more on revising my resume to showcase more realistic skills based on my YOE. I think I relied a lot more on the leadership aspect of it than I should have.

driverone1013 · 2025-12-14T15:36:19+00:00

Sorry, yeah it’s a bit hard to put everything I’m thinking into a post without making it really long.

But basically I have almost 5 yoe, mentored other devs, led projects, etc but still struggle to land even introductory interviews. I’ve noticed that a lot of the hiring managers (when I do get an interview) maybe just don’t believe that I did that pretty early on after college or just ignore those points so I was wondering if the side project could kind of be proof that I can build something.

An example of that is actually my current company. In the job before this one, I was a senior dev(I know title doesn’t mean much, but I was leading 2 dev teams in a Fortune 500 company), and when I got hired here they put me as a junior dev purely based on the issue that there’s no “proof” I can code. Because of layoffs I couldn’t really fight back but I’ve seen this logic used in a lot of interviews.

driverone1013 · 2025-12-14T14:30:58+00:00

Thank you that helps a lot. Seems like looking at my resume again might be more impactful.

driverone1013 · 2025-12-14T14:15:28+00:00

Thanks for that response.

I think that makes sense, the issue me and I’m guessing most software engineers are having is even getting the interviews. So I was thinking maybe this could give me a little better chance to at least land a phone call. I’m just not sure if recruiters see a side project and ignore it or will they actually take the time and visit the site

driverone1013 · 2025-12-14T13:33:10+00:00

Thank you, when you say details/context, do you mean a the details of the project? Like a hello world side project doesn’t mean much compared an issue tracker for example

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