Technical Interview Preparation: A 4-Week Plan

Goal: Build a solid foundation in core data structures and basic problem-solving patterns. • Days 1-2: Arrays, Strings & Hash Maps — Solve 5-6 easy problems daily on LeetCode. Focus on two-pointer technique, sliding window, and hash map patterns. • Days 3-4: Linked Lists & Stacks/Queues — Practice reversal, cycle detection, and monotonic stack problems. • Days 5-6: Trees & Graphs Fundamentals — BFS, DFS, tree traversals (inorder, preorder, postorder). • Day 7: Review Day — Re-solve problems you struggled with. Track weak areas in a spreadsheet. Week 1 Target: 25-30 problems solved, comfort with basic patterns. Tracking template columns: 1. Problem name & link 2. Category (array, tree, graph, etc.) 3. Difficulty (easy/medium/hard) 4. Solved independently? (yes/no/hint) 5. Time taken 6. Key pattern used

Goal: Master medium-difficulty problems and learn to identify which pattern applies. • Days 1-2: Binary Search — Standard binary search plus searching on answer space. Practice problems like Koko Eating Bananas and Split Array Largest Sum. • Days 3-4: Dynamic Programming — Start with 1D DP (climbing stairs, house robber), then 2D DP (unique paths, edit distance). Focus on identifying subproblems and state transitions. • Days 5-6: Graph Algorithms — Dijkstra's shortest path, topological sort, union-find (disjoint set). • Day 7: Mock Interview — Conduct a mock with a friend or on Pramp/interviewing.io. Week 2 Target: 20-25 medium problems solved. Ability to identify which pattern applies to a new problem within 5 minutes. Pattern recognition checklist: 1. Does the problem ask for contiguous subarray? → Sliding window 2. Does it ask for combinations/permutations? → Backtracking 3. Does it have optimal substructure? → DP 4. Does it involve shortest path? → BFS or Dijkstra

Goal: Become comfortable whiteboarding system designs and delivering polished behavioral stories. System Design (Days 1-5): • Days 1-2: Fundamentals — Study load balancing, caching strategies, database sharding, message queues, and the CAP theorem. • Days 3-4: Practice Designs — Work through 2 full designs: a URL shortener and a chat application. Practice drawing diagrams and estimating scale. • Day 5: Advanced Designs — Study 2 more designs relevant to your target companies (news feed, ride-sharing, video streaming). Behavioral (Days 6-7): • Prepare 8-10 STAR stories covering conflict, failure, leadership, ambiguity, and tight deadlines • Practice telling each story in under 3 minutes • Map each story to at least 2 themes for flexibility Week 3 Target: Comfortable whiteboarding 4 system designs, 8 polished STAR stories.

Goal: Simulate real interview conditions and refine your weakest areas. 1. Days 1-2: Full Mock Sessions — Complete 1 coding + 1 system design + 1 behavioral per day. Use a timer and simulate real conditions (no IDE autocomplete, explain your thinking aloud). 2. Days 3-4: Weakness Targeting — Focus exclusively on weak areas identified in mocks. Re-solve problems you got wrong. 3. Days 5-6: Company-Specific Prep — Research the company's tech stack, recent engineering blog posts, and Glassdoor interview reports. Prepare thoughtful questions for your interviewers. 4. Day 7: Rest & Logistics — Light review only. No new problems. Get proper sleep, prepare logistics (outfit, directions, tech setup), and trust your preparation. Week 4 Target: 2-3 full mock interview sets completed, confidence in your prepared material. Pre-interview checklist: • Laptop charged, stable internet connection tested • Quiet, well-lit environment prepared • Water and notepad ready • 3 thoughtful questions for the interviewer prepared • STAR stories reviewed one final time