You’re preparing for an algorithms interview. How can you show off your technical skills?

When learning new data structures or algorithms, I meticulously note down key details, including the concept itself and its corresponding Big O notation for creation, insertion, updating, and deletion. These notes prove invaluable during interview preparations, facilitating easy recall of essential information. Furthermore, I actively participate in problem-solving sessions, focusing on recent interview questions from specific companies. By exploring platforms like LeetCode's discussion section and Glassdoor, I stay updated on the latest interview trends, enhancing my preparedness and confidence. This proactive approach significantly boosts the chances of encountering similar questions during interviews.

We must be very clear about time complexity and space complexity of the algorithm design to solve the problems. Also, we must consider the negative scenarios and stress level test scenarios, because algorithm is first verified with negative use cases.

How can you show off your technical skills. Start easy with Big O. Familiar with common data structures, such as arrays, lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, and hash tables... Why? It's your chance to show that you know the language also. Provide the solutions and your way of thinking as you point out the trade off.

Various companies conduct interviews on different coding platforms. It's important to familiarize yourself with these platforms to feel more comfortable during coding rounds. Additionally, some platforms may offer autocomplete features, while others may not. Practicing without autocomplete is essential for strengthening your grasp of syntax and function names in the programming language. Mock interviews with peers are incredibly beneficial. They not only assess your technical skills but also your communication abilities. By engaging in mock interviews, you can refine both aspects and increase your chances of success in actual interviews.

How can you show off your technical skills? You should know what they want and give it to them. Algorithms in interviews can also help the interviewer understand your mindset. Practice makes you more confident and aware of the flow of the interview. They can start easy and add more conditions to see how you react to them. So be aware, knowing the trade-off well enough can save you time. And practice is also important when it comes to fulfillment. How to ask a clarifying question, discover the edge/corner case,... ask for confirmation before jump to code...

ASK QUESTIONS!!!! Seriously, solving the wrong problem for the first 15-20 minutes of a 45 minute interview is NOT the way. Interviewers are looking for critical thinking skills alongside your technical/coding skills. Think about it, let’s say at work, you’re assigned a non-trivial task, the last thing you would want to do is just jump straight into it without understanding as many (if not all) the implications behind the “problem”. You want to leverage and think about the different strategies of solving the problem and ask for feedback along the way. This way, if someone notices something that’s off about your understanding or approach, you’ll know about it. So, think of an interview as just a conversation between coworkers!

In interviews, a simple misunderstanding of a problem can lead to disastrous outcomes. Not only does it signal to the interviewer that you may not be paying adequate attention to the problem statement, but it can also suggest a lack of communicative skills in discussing the issue. Worse yet, proceeding with a misunderstood approach might leave you stranded halfway through, realizing too late that you're off track. Even if you believe you understand the problem well, it's crucial to confirm your interpretation with the interviewer. This proactive approach not only ensures alignment in understanding but also demonstrates your commitment to clarity and precision.

How can you show off your technical skills? If you know the problem well enough, rephrase it again into a simple concept. Point out the pain point we need to solve. List out the edge cases and for sure confirm them with the interviewer. If not, you still have to do it, and try to find the hidden piece you may miss

Try out with BF then think out loud about other solutions ( greedy, divide and conquer, dynamic programming, or backtracking...) or the term of a decision tree. You know their pros and cons in this problem so talk it out. And then explain why you selected this set of solutions. It can be not what interviewer want (don't be shy), ask him/her if it's good enough then get into next step

Selecting the appropriate algorithm is crucial in delivering the most efficient solution, a quality highly sought after by interviewers. With sufficient practice, one can develop an intuition for discerning which algorithm best suits a given problem upon initial examination. Therefore, it is imperative to engage in extensive practice across various algorithmic concepts. Mastering each algorithm empowers individuals to tackle challenges with confidence, ensuring optimal problem-solving outcomes.

Adopting proper naming conventions and coding standards not only enhances the organization of your code but also facilitates comprehension for others who may need to interpret it. This practice doesn't just benefit collaborators; it also makes it easier for you to articulate your code during interviews. Meaningful variable names, strategically placed comments, and consistent indentation not only improve readability but also streamline future modifications. By adhering to these principles, you're not just writing code; you're crafting a blueprint for clarity and maintainability. Let's strive for code that not only runs efficiently but also communicates effectively.

THE LEETCODE INTERVIEW IS JUST BROKEN. THEY ARE RECRUITING LEETCODE RATS AND NOT EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS. ALSO DISCOURAGE TOP PEOPLE TO APPLY TO TOP JOBS.

How can you show off your technical skills? You forget how Stream works? You don't remember there can be an exception need to be catch? You don't remember the syntax or the return type? Follow some concept and check if your code is maintainable / reuseable if can. And add the test, may be dry run and make comment for it.

This is actually the most important thing, every algorithm is one online search away. You need to discuss tradeoffs for this specific problem, why would you need to do it this way for this particular problem over the other way. An example would be to take a network flow graph and try to find the min cut edge? You can use both traversals, kruskals, prims but which one would you pick based on the structure of the graph? You should ideally be at a level where you can discuss and ideate problems in this manner, if not, just apply for a software job where implementation is the key focus.

Always have your “portfolio” available online as a part of your resume. That will “show off” your technical skills even before any interview