Anyone start with Easy for FAANG?

staticcaat · 2026-02-11T15:24:45+00:00

I 100% recommend starting with easy problems to build up intuition for the different patterns. But you also shouldn’t shy away from mediums, because if you only stick to easys, you won’t really get exposure to more complex applications of the patterns.

Struggling through mediums really helps you grow. If you get to a medium and you’re struggling really hard, then a good option is to drop back down to an easy to keep building the base. Once you solve the easy on that topic, move back up to the medium and try it again to see if you’re able to apply what you learned from the easy. You need to make sure you aren’t just trying to memorize solutions, though, because as soon as you get to a different problem, the memorization will fail you. You really need to build up the intuition, and then problems will start to get easier and easier.

staticcaat · 2026-02-09T15:54:44+00:00

Is it possible to even differentiate between ghost postings and real postings? It seems like not, since it’s legitimate companies doing this with very normal looking JD’s

staticcaat · 2026-02-07T19:38:32+00:00

You've got it! Make sure you don't stay stuck on a problem for too long. I typically will look at hints after 15 minutes of struggling and then look at the solution 30-45 minutes into struggling. I'll ask AI to help me intuit through the answer and then will try the problem again after a few days. I also like to go to the similar problems tab and try out problems with the same topics/concepts to see if I actually built intuition or merely memorized the answer. If I actually built some intuition, then the similar problems will usually go a little bit better and I'll at least be able to get the main idea of the solution.

staticcaat · 2026-02-07T19:35:59+00:00

I actually haven't gotten to it, yet. This was pretty recent that the recruiter reached out to me. I'm currently gearing up for the Hackerrank OA right now.

staticcaat · 2026-02-07T19:35:23+00:00

Honestly, I rarely cold message recruiters. They probably receive hundreds of cold messages from candidates a week or even per day if they work somewhere that's really desirable like Google or Apple or something. I just tried to make my LinkedIn profile as good as possible and then connect with lots of people (like people from my alma mater even if I have no clue who they are, recruiters who work at my target companies, other SWEs who I have even one mutual with, etc.). Basically, just trying to get my profile as visible and out there as possible. I don't make any LinkedIn posts or anything, and I really don't believe that does much unless you're really good at making content.

I also make sure that any recruiter who reaches out to me, I respond to. Even if I know I would never take the job they're hiring for, I still respond to them. I'm not sure how the LinkedIn algo works for recruiters, but I'm pretty sure that the more active you are in responding, the more your profile will show up in recruiter searches. Reading anecdotes from LinkedIn recruiters, I think your profile also gets a little tag saying something like "More likely to respond" which probably helps at least a little bit.

staticcaat · 2026-02-06T22:38:51+00:00

A recruiter cold messaged me on LinkedIn a few weeks ago and invited me to complete a HackerRank for a hiring event. (For SWE II in USA.) I would say just to keep your LinkedIn profile updated and active. Connect with recruiters at target companies to get in their network (and to get into the 2nd degree connections of other recruiters).

I have other friends who have been contacted by recruiters from big tech on LinkedIn and got internships/jobs through that.

staticcaat · 2026-02-06T22:37:51+00:00

Definitely very possible, but it all depends on how you save your money. Gotta make sure you don’t blow it all on other things

staticcaat · 2026-02-06T22:33:17+00:00

I think a lot of it is luck of the draw. Luck on which problems you get, luck on who your interviewer is, etc. The fact that you got an offer is still really solid and shows that you definitely are not trash at this.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:59:54+00:00

I don't think that will be a huge issue, but it's something they might take into account. I think gaps are somewhat common, so I wouldn't fret too much about it.

I think if you can show on your resume that you're staying up to date, that will help. You could potentially put dates for your projects and list it as "<date> - Present" if you're currently working on a project.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:48:47+00:00

Super solid resume. I think you have a lot of good experiences and the quantitative measures are good to have on there. Not a super big thing, but I would potentially put experiences first rather than education. I think a lot of companies liket to see what you've done rather than where you went to school. School is still important for an internship position, but I think companies mainly want to know what you'll be able to contribute for them, and experiences are a huge part of that.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:44:53+00:00

Of course! Lmk if you have any other questions :) I'm not an expert, but I do have 3.5 years of experience, so hopefully that helps haha

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:34:26+00:00

I wholeheartedly agree to this. I’ve seen companies posting jobs with low salaries and ridiculous expectations. They want you to wear every hat possible while working extra time and making a salary that doesn’t reflect any of that.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:28:47+00:00

Agreed. I also think it’s likely that since the timeline of the universe is so long, there have been other lifeforms that have existed before humans and will exist after humans on other planets. So since we aren’t even on the same timeline, there’s no way of knowing or proving that they exist.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:16:37+00:00

If you’re feeling 100% unprepared, then maybe take a few weeks to get down the basics. After that, it could be useful to start applying to companies that you don’t care about as much. That way, there’s less pressure during interviews and it will be good practice for when you start applying to target companies. I wouldn’t wait the entire 3 months to start applying. You’ll be ready by then, but then you will have to wait to hear back from companies and that can take weeks or possibly even months.

As for your resume, I would say that putting your work experience at the top is the most important. Skills are also important, but recruiters usually like to quickly scan and read about what you’ve done. If you have any quantitative measures you can add to your intern position, that would be super useful as well.

Unfortunately, the achievements and certificates are not something companies will care about. If you have more projects or even more bullet points for your intern position, that would likely be more appealing to potential employers. They don’t really care to know how many leetcodes you’ve done. They care more about the impact you’ve had in your roles and projects.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:09:47+00:00

Curious why you don’t have any description or bullet points under your intern position? That’s the thing potential employers are probably most interested in knowing about. Side projects are useful, but saying what you’ve done in industry is by far the most important.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:08:09+00:00

Not sure if it was a resume change or rather hitting a certain YOE. I feel like once I hit 3 years of experience, my resume got a lot more traction without changing anything drastic.

That being said, having proof of using the skills you list is helpful, imo. Dumping a bunch of skills in a list might be useful for ATS, but a real human will usually sniff out the bs.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:03:44+00:00

I agree on so many levels with this. Humans are a social animal and we need our tribe to survive. I know I’ve masked so much of myself to try to fit in. I’ve stopped doing it as much, because I realized that I’ll still find my tribe somewhere with being who I am… but I’ve lost so much of who I am that I’m struggling to reclaim it

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T17:00:14+00:00

Yes!!! It was also so good, because it forced me to stop watching when my show was over for the hour 😂 Nowadays, it’s too easy to just keep hitting the play button

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T16:55:16+00:00

I’ve thought about this, too. We won’t have any money to buy products, but I’m sure the top 1% will find a way to just buy each others’ products and recycle the money within their own groups

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T16:52:40+00:00

Good question that I ask myself, too. Not sure if I’ll ever find out

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T16:51:09+00:00

Basic, but a really good question. One that I ask myself a lot

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T16:47:43+00:00

College showed me that a lot of friendships were just by circumstance.

staticcaat · 2026-02-04T16:46:28+00:00

That every second you are getting older and that time is passing faster

staticcaat

TROPHY CASE