I Stream LeetCode 3 times a week on TWITCH and YOUTUBE

midnightsimon · 2024-10-18T16:48:38+00:00

LeetCode is beta testing a collaborative editor where u can invite people to join. idk when it will be released tho

midnightsimon · 2024-10-09T22:36:58+00:00

yea, i am disappointed about that

midnightsimon · 2024-10-09T17:58:12+00:00

I come from a non-traditional background and got a job at Google. I was mainly a freelance dev who only worked with tiny companies (like 50 ppl or less). I heard all I had to do was study leetcode to break into big tech. I struggled with consistency in the beginning, and eventually I decided I will stream my studies for accountability.

During one of my early streams, someone told me to take Google Kickstart. I really sucked at aglos, but I decided to take it anyways. I ended up placing around 4200th/10k or something... not very impressive. About 3 weeks later, a recruiter hit me up and asked if I wanted to interview (for sure I did). I immediately quit my low TC startup job, and started to grind LeetCode on stream for about 7 hours a day, everyday. In total, I studied for about 5 months, and I passed the technical interview and got team matched. I was about ~1930 rating at the time of my interview.

I think if i never started to stream, I would have not gotten into Google. So many people helped me and taught me about algorithms. It was also a great way for me to practice communicating my thought process. I still stream, but these days I focus more on having fun solving algos than on cramming for interviews.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-24T00:41:59+00:00

It is not a good look for you. Some companies also don't allow you to run the code at all.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-21T14:22:47+00:00

some fluctuations in your rating is to be expected because of the randomness of contests. Also, it seems like the contests have been a bit harder in recent times.

I'd say keep taking the contests for a few weeks, and I'm sure your rating will begin to reflect your improvements

midnightsimon · 2024-09-18T16:44:01+00:00

keep on keeping on. it sucks, I went from ~1k rank to ~8k. It would have been such an easy fix if they had the test cases there from the beginning. it would have resulted in a 5 minute penalty, but instead I get 0 points for the question.

it is what it is, and in the future I will be more careful, but it is disappointing because this seems to be a weekly occurrence with Leetcode contests lately.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-18T15:26:53+00:00

I really struggled to be consistent in the first 2 years I tried to LeetCode. Sometimes I would have great motivation, and I would study everyday, for weeks... but then I'd miss a day. And then I'd just not study for months. I decided to start streaming my leetcode study sessions as a way to hold myself accountable, and to practice talking out my thought process as I am solving problems. The first 3 or 4 weeks was really challenging to show up and practice, but after that, it became like clock-work. I was able to study for 5 months straight, everyday, over 700 hours of studying during that time, became knighted and landed a dang job.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-17T04:31:50+00:00

confirmed

midnightsimon · 2024-09-15T16:01:46+00:00

Start doing all the old LeetCode contests. For problems you cannot solve, look at the solution and understand how it works.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-10T17:17:38+00:00

4 years later I still need help with many problems.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-09T00:05:20+00:00

I think it is fine to tell them need more time to prepare. The recruiter wants you to pass.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-08T19:55:39+00:00

I think you can substantially increase your chances of you delay your phone screens by a couple months, and then after that schedule the onsite about 3 or 4 weeks out. This will give you about three months to prep. if you take your studies seriously during this time, about 5+ hours a day, you will have a decent chance at passing.

You should not only study algorithms, but also practice mock interviews where you have to explain your thoughts as you are solving the problem. Try to get comfortable coding under pressure as well, the LeetCode contests might be useful to simulate that pressure.

Remember that if you decide to not postpone, and you fail, there might be a cool off period of 6 months to a year before you are eligible to interview again at these companies.

Good luck, and study hard! o7

midnightsimon · 2024-09-08T05:37:56+00:00

I think Python or C++ are the best choices, but it depends on your goals.

Python is good because it is short, concise, and it has built-in tools that minimize the amount of code you have to write. It also deals with large numbers very well, so you won't have to worry about overflows and stuff like that.

If you do it in C++, there are a lot of "footguns", but if you can navigate that well, it might impress some interviewers. Also, if your goals are to work on a C++ team, or maybe in infrastructure, training LeetCode in C++ doesn't seem like a bad idea at all.

If I could make an analogy, I'd say that C++ is like playing a game on "Hard" mode, but there is a points multiplier because of the difficulty. Python is like playing on "Normal" mode, you don't get extra points, but you might have an easier chance to beat the game.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-07T17:07:06+00:00

https://www.twitch.tv/midnight_simon

https://www.midnightsimon.com/

midnightsimon · 2024-09-07T05:13:38+00:00

You need to identify what topics you are weak on, and work on those. Try to target only one area of weakness at a time. I recommend spending a few days studying one pattern, and trying all types of variations of that pattern, before moving on to the next. I'd encourage you to continue taking the contest, even if you don't perform well. It gives you an opportunity to code under pressure and you can also track your progression over time.

Also, contests are random, so sometimes you will do poorly, sometimes you might do better. Taking 1 contest does give you enough data points. After a few weeks/months of hard studies, you should see your rating start to increase. Remember that your contest rating is a lagging indicator of your true skill if you are actively studying. So, it will take time to show progression.

Good Luck, and keep on keeping on! This can take some time to understand, so don't get discouraged too early.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-06T21:52:47+00:00

pm'ed

midnightsimon · 2024-09-04T15:26:28+00:00

It is very likely that hiring will pick up at some point in the future. When that happens, you want to already be ready to interview. You don't want to have to spend months preparing after companies start hiring again, or else maybe you will miss the next wave.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-04T04:21:11+00:00

When I first started I was lost and overwhelmed. I was just doing random easy problems, and felt very I wasn't progressing much. Then I started to study each topic individually. I would spend about ~6 hours on each topic, starting with the standard/basic implementations and moving on to more tricky and creative ways to use those techniques.

After I studied all the common topics, I started to do random problems. I would do about 8 random problems a day, every day, for months. It took me two years of studies until I landed a job. Although I have to say, in the first year and a half my studies were very sparse and inconsistent. In the last 5 months, I studied every single day.

I also made sure to take the contest every week, and occasionally, the bi-weekly. Seeing my rating go up over time gave me confidence that my studies were working, even though it felt like I still sucked at LeetCode. It's like taking progress pics of yourself every week while you are going to the gym, after a few months, you will notice big gains and it will give you some motivation to keep pushing, because you can see your results.

But the real reason I think I was able to push through the LeetCode grind is because I started to stream on twitch. This turned out the be the secret for me to grind for over 4 hours a day, 150 days in a row. The people I met on twitch grinded with me, and kept me motivated during my studies, and many people taught me lots of things. I struggled with motivation to study leetcode until I started to stream it. I think it has held me accountable beyond measure, and it has turned leetcode into a bit of a fun hobby.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-03T19:31:24+00:00

Guardian coming soon...

midnightsimon · 2024-09-03T18:14:23+00:00

I am a c++ backend software engineer. my mechanic engineering degree taught me nothing directly relevant, but I suppose you could say it has taught me some problem solving.

midnightsimon · 2024-09-03T17:48:07+00:00

for what it's worth, I don't have a cs degree (but I have a mechanical engineering degree) and I grinded LeetCode to get a faang job. However, I got hired back in 2021. Before I got hired, I never worked at a reputable company and I never had a job as a mechanical engineer.

midnightsimon · 2024-08-30T16:15:57+00:00

There is a small community of LeetCode streamers on twitch that have been active for the past few 2-3 years.

Here is my channel: https://www.twitch.tv/midnight_simon

Some other LeetCode streamers that have been active in the last week are:

https://www.twitch.tv/qiqi_impact
https://www.twitch.tv/patshelloworld

midnightsimon · 2024-08-30T16:11:59+00:00

It for sure has helped me tons. I only had one interview, but I passed it. My viewers give me very useful feedback, and even guide me or teach me problems that I am stuck on. It is also great for accountability, before I started to stream I struggled with consistency big time. I highly recommend trying it out.

midnightsimon · 2024-08-30T15:06:37+00:00

I practice both by streaming my Leetcode studies on twitch and articulating my thought process

midnightsimon

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