System Design Interview Cheat Sheet
tl;dr: “The system design questions are subjective. This cheat sheet is a work in progress and is written based on my research on the topic.” Topics include databases, API design, capacity planning, high level design, design deep dives, and more.featured in #403
I Failed 3 Job Applications, Here's What I Learned
- Alex Ewerlöf tl;dr: “Today after 23 years, I have a relatively high level leadership position but it wasn’t always like this. As an introvert in a world that’s optimized for extroverts I had a long and painful learning curve.” Alex provides us with tips he's learned and mistakes he's made applying for jobs at Datadog, Spotify and Shopify.featured in #402
How To Approach A System Design Interview
tl;dr: This article covers: (1) The difference between engineering problems and design problems. (2) How approaching a system design interview is different to a coding interview. (3) What it’s like to walk into a system design interview. (4) What your interviewer looks for, and what they don’t. (5) Green Flags, Red Flags, and other signposts.featured in #395
The Really Important Job Interview Questions Engineers Should Ask (But Don't)
- James Hawkins tl;dr: "It's normal for candidates not to ask harder questions about our company, so they usually miss out on a chance to (1) de-risk our company's performance and (2) increase the chances they'll like working here." James gives several examples of interview questions candidates can ask about product-market fit, financial runway and more.featured in #339
featured in #336
STAR Method For Interview Questions
- Will Larson tl;dr: Will offers the STAR template as a framework to respond to interview questions e.g. "Tell me about a time when you had to change your organizational structure to solve an important problem?” STAR: (1) Situation surrounding your task. (2) Task you undertook, or were assigned, to address the situation. (3) Actions to accomplish the task. (4) Results of your actions.featured in #329
Ten Rules For Negotiating A Job Offer
- Haseeb Qureshi tl;dr: Haseeb explains each of the following in detail: (1) Get everything in writing. (2) Always keep the door open. (3) Information is power. (4) Always be positive. (5) Don’t be the decision maker. (6) Have alternatives. (7) Proclaim reasons for everything. (8) Be motivated by more than just money. (9) Understand what they value. (10) Be winnable.featured in #294
How You Can Tell If The Company You're Interviewing With Is Rotten On The Inside?
- Charity Majors tl;dr: Charity presents strategies, such as backchanneling with contacts, effective D&I practices, and also maintains that how the interview is organized is telling: (1) Was the interview conducted in a timely fashion? Were you given detailed information about what to expect? (2) Were you compensated for your any take-home projects. (3) Did they get back to you swiftly at each step of the way to let you know where you stand and what comes next?featured in #293
The Big Tech Coding Interview Framework - Pt 1. Inspect
- Daniel Habib tl;dr: 1st in a 4 part series on how to approach every programming interview, regardless of topic, starting with a framework for how to inspect the problem at hand: "Did I explicitly state what the input was? Did I clarify what the desired output was? Did I construct a simple example that could be solved by hand?"featured in #261
Advice For Tech Workers To Navigate The Most Heated Job Market Of All Time
- Gergely Orosz tl;dr: More emphasis on total comp packages, seeing some companies move to one-year stock grants. Job seekers should optimize for happiness, identifying their "must-haves," and also have the opportunity to negotiate v hard. Employees can negotiate with current employers to improve their situation. Gergely also outlines how this is impacting more junior tech workers too.featured in #253