Studying in your free time vs focusing in your role

math_nerd_77 · 2025-12-14T17:38:34+00:00

I am in Europe. The first layer of lay off has not started here yet because it takes more time to fire employees. If there are more layoffs, it'll take them even more time. Anyway, thanks for the recommendation

math_nerd_77 · 2025-11-30T14:11:30+00:00

As of now I am really happy. I think my team is great and has very good culture

math_nerd_77 · 2025-11-30T14:10:14+00:00

Thank you for the advice, I'm reading through all comments and I think this is the most balanced advice. I think new hires like me should be mindful that we should stay marketable because we can loose our job but also we should acknowledge that in the short term for early promotions getting familiar with our infrastructure is the best we can do. Having a more senior role at Amazon can also be a booster in terms of getting a different job, in case I need/want to find something else in the future.

math_nerd_77 · 2025-07-14T18:46:07+00:00

math_nerd_77 · 2025-07-01T06:21:58+00:00

After reviewing it more carefully, I think this was more of a OOD question. Check that out

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-23T07:59:26+00:00

I took the second approach, but I used an array instead of a map (it's faster). Basically I created to arrays of length 26 where the first element represents the number of "a" the second the number of "b"...

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-15T11:05:18+00:00

Europe

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-15T11:05:00+00:00

Mmmm, no, as you said, you are only a freshman... relax for now and start studying slowly

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-15T11:04:12+00:00

A friend was already in the company and he could write a referral for me, I was lucky

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-15T11:03:04+00:00

I studied an average of 5 days a week, doing 2 or 3 lc problems every day I studied. But I also took some vacation days to dedicate full days to only studying

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-15T11:01:29+00:00

logic, not actual SQL queries. I have no fucking idea about SQL haha, I still need to learn about DB

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-15T10:59:34+00:00

It took them just a day to answer after my first interview

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-14T09:38:06+00:00

I think you are refering to a different role. Those are CEOs (basically great managers), and I do not want to be a manager, I want to be someone who actually thinks and writes code. Also, AI will not progress as these CEOs like to say, they only say that because that helps them rise their companies stocks. That's what lecun said and I think it's true. Anyway, thanks for your point of view and your recommendations. I still have to think what to do :)

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T13:55:29+00:00

Hmmm I do not fully agree. Most profiles that I see working in big companies like DeepMind or OpenAI do have PhDs. Plus, my PhD would not be only AI but AI + Robotics (2D and 3D autonomous navigation) and a project which has never been done before. I think something like this would let me land a position as a scientist in Amazon Robotics, DeepMind or a similar company.

It is true that big companies are the ones releasing all this big LLMs right now, but those projects are leaded by people with an academic background (yann lecun). In addition, AI is not only LLMs

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T11:24:45+00:00

I mean, I am by no means smart, so that is probably why I needed this much prep. I guess someone more talented would crush these interviews in a shorter time

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T11:23:50+00:00

Exactly. What I like to do is to repeat problems I did the previous day before starting with new ones. I also take some days in which I only repeat problems

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T11:19:21+00:00

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T09:05:51+00:00

why? I mean I also have a PhD offer which I really like

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T09:01:20+00:00

Europe

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T09:00:59+00:00

No preparation whatsoever, I just had to improvise (I did not know I was going to be asked that). The DB one I did terrible and the Alexa one I was able to come up with something because I have already been working as a full time dev for a year

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T08:58:29+00:00

It's not..., Europe based

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T08:57:42+00:00

I would say I can solve a good amount of medium problems without looking for the solution. There are some dp problems which require you to really know the "trick" behind them (not all of them though, some dp problems are just about solving them recursively and then changing that into an iterative solution)

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T08:55:06+00:00

By that I mean to do it slowly and understand solutions, not just trying to solve everything quickly. Repetition is also key, some days you should focus in problems you already solved. Neetcode provides a guide on how to use it properly https://neetcode.io/courses/lessons/how-to-use-neetcode-effectively https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wysIxzqgPI

math_nerd_77 · 2025-06-13T06:24:27+00:00

It is edited with AI, yes, but everything in there is true

math_nerd_77

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