Programming Interviews For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
How This Book Is Organized
Part 1: Finding and Hooking Your Next Employer
Part 2: Preparing for Your Interview
Part 3: Everyone’s Testing Time
Part 4: Sealing the Deal
Part 5: The Part of Tens
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Finding and Hooking Your Next Employer
Chapter 1 What Should You Expect?
Understanding the Interviewing Process Funnel
Finding Companies That Are Hiring
Meet online
Meet in person
Look at company websites
Submitting Your Résumés
A Company Is Interested! Now What?
Participating in phone screens
Going to in-person interviews
Being prepared for tests
Dealing with One or (Better Yet) Multiple Offers
Chapter 2 Knowing How the Company Is Preparing
Learning What Each Company Is Doing
Gathering information about smaller business and startup needs
Navigating the involved hiring process at bigger companies
Preparing for the interviewers you’ll meet
Leading Your Interview
Finding out how the interviewer is approaching the interview
Volunteering the right information to make you shine
Showing other ways you’re the right fit
Being Prepared Pays Off
Chapter 3 Understanding the Investment a Company Makes
Knowing Why Companies Are Risk-Averse
Different risks for different companies
Firing is hard
Discovering What Companies Are Concerned About
Showing How You Can Help the Company
Explaining how you can help the team you’ll work with
Demonstrating how you fit into the company culture
Offering examples that back you up
Part 2 Preparing for Your Interview
Chapter 4 Searching High and Low for Companies
Getting Your Ducks in a Row
Deciding Where You Want to Work
Search for a local technology ecosystem
Commute or move?
Working remotely
Figuring out the Size and Type of Company You Want to Work For
Large companies
Small companies
What Type of Job Do You Want?
Step one: Technology
Step two: Environment
Step three: Define your specific role
Learning What’s Available
Understanding the pros and cons of job search websites
Using and managing recruitment agencies
Networking to find the unadvertised jobs
Chapter 5 Shining Up Your Résumé and Social Media Accounts
Finding Out Who You Are Online
Googling your name to get your online image
Learning how to rebrand yourself
Cleaning Up Your Social Networking Profiles
Understanding your visibility online
Learning what helps get you an interview
Removing what can disqualify you in an employer’s eyes
Making Your Résumé Stand Out
Finding a professional résumé service versus doing it yourself
Giving your résumé service the right information
Advertising what you have to offer
Tailoring your résumé to the job description
Writing a Cover Letter
Fitting the cover letter to the job description
Adding the parts of a cover letter you need
Chapter 6 How Your Experience Affects Your Interview
Qualifying for Senior Status
Being More than Just a Junior
Show your work
The right extracurricular activities
Character
Commitment
Resolve
Don’t forget talent
Leave the best for the end credits
Playing in the Majors
Be honest about your career
Stable or stagnant?
Ambitious or flighty?
Tell the rest of the story
Education
Leadership
Flexibility
Don’t forget skills
Chapter 7 Getting Ready for the First Ring
Preparing for Your Phone Screen
Prep your space
Watch your behavior
Have your friends join in
Reviewing the Type of Phone Screen You May Get
Basic screen
Technical question screen
Live coding assignments
Acing Your Phone Screen
Answering basic technical and experience questions
Coding live on an instant messaging client
Making time to do assigned homework
Avoiding disqualifying situations
Part 3 Everyone’s Testing Time
Chapter 8 Testing Strategies for the Interviewee
Preparing for Questions the Company May Ask You
Searching online to find the top questions
Knowing how to answer soft skills questions
Leveling Up Your Coding Skills
Make an honest assessment
Getting up to speed with Codility
Testing your skills with LeetCode
Canvassing Your Network
Interviewing people who have interviewed before
Finding people who will give you mock interviews
Getting Feedback after the Interview
Chapter 9 Working with Data Structures: Garbage In Means Garbage Out
Learning the Basics of Data Structures
Managing arrays and linked lists
Wrangling hashes
Learning about stacks in your kitchen
Learning about queues
Showing You Know Data Structures
Questions companies have asked interviewees
Answering data structure questions the right way with Big O
Finding More Detailed Information
Chapter 10 Identifying Design Patterns and Using Recursion
Recognizing Design Patterns
Understanding the basics
Knowing when to use design patterns
Learning about singleton, adapter, façade, and more
Knowing What You Need about Recursion
Direct versus indirect
The real stack overflow
Understanding Your Recursion Test
Solving a recursion word problem example
Finding more examples and resources
Chapter 11 Sorting with Sorting Algorithms
Absorbing Common Sorting Algorithms
Starting the tour with bubble sort
Expanding your knowledge about merge sort and quick sort
Understanding use cases for each sorting type
Solving Two Sorting Examples
Sorting one deck of cards
Sorting many decks of cards
Getting More Examples and Researching Resources
Loads of reading material
Moving examples
Visualize the sort, Luke
Chapter 12 Solving Puzzles Is Fun
Knowing What Kind of Problems an Interviewer Will Ask
Solving a Programming Puzzle
Breaking down a problem
Building your solution
Realizing What Interviewers Want
Getting Better at Solving Puzzles
Working on puzzles in books
Searching online to hone your solving skills
Part 4 Sealing the Deal
Chapter 13 Closing the Deal
Scheduling Interviews with Multiple Companies
Managing Multiple Interviews with the Same Company
Knowing the types of interviews you may have
Meeting the team to see if you’re a good fit
Grasping what you’ll work on with the team
Learning about your future path with the company
Understanding When a Company May Contact You
Following up will not lose you the job
Being annoying can work for you
Coming Up Snake Eyes
Receiving a generic response
Asking for more information
Receiving Your Offer
Getting the word
Obtaining a written offer
Negotiating the offer over the phone
Knowing when pay is not the top consideration
Being Clear about Your Benefits
Understanding the company’s health plans
Matching your 401(k) benefits
Learning how much time off you get
Retiring with benefits
Chapter 14 Honing Your Negotiating Skills
Finding Information from Employees Online
Glassdoor
Comparably
CareerBliss
Dealing with Company Salary Information and Expectations
Learning the company’s cards
Keeping your cards close to your vest
Forcing your hand
Managing the Negotiation Process
Giving a counteroffer
Negotiating more than salary
Avoiding pitting companies against each other
Walking away
Part 5 The Part of Tens
Chapter 15 Ten Ways to Stand Out
Have a Professional Headshot
Establish a GitHub Profile
Get Plenty of Referrals
Have a Video Résumé on Social Networking Sites
Create Your Own YouTube Channel
Have a Good Blog to Show Your Expertise
Produce a Podcast and/or Vlog
Point to Mobile Apps You’ve Already Developed in App Stores
Write and Self-Publish a Book
Speak at Developer and Business Events
Chapter 16 Ten Non-Technical Questions You May Be Asked
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Why did you leave your last company?
Name a time you got into a conflict with a coworker, and how was that resolved?
What did you like about your last job?
What did you dislike?
Why do you want to work for us (or this company)?
Why should we hire you?
Why are you the best candidate for this job?
Chapter 17 Ten Reasons Your Résumé Will End up in the Round File
Your Résumé Has Typos, Spelling Errors, and Uses Incorrect Grammar
Your Résumé Is Too Long
You Start Your Résumé with an Objective
Your Résumé Layout Looks Sloppy and Is Hard to Read
You Have Inappropriate Material on Social Media
You Lie during the Phone Screen or Interview
You Are Arrogant and/or Argumentative
You Have a Bad Reputation
You Don’t Dress Properly for the Interview
You Give the Impression You’re Hiding Something
Chapter 18 Ten Useful Websites to Check Out
LeetCode
Interview Cake
Reddit Programming Forum
Simple Programmer
Pluralsight Design Patterns Library
Hired.com
142 Resources for Mastering the Coding Interview
Stack Overflow Careers
Interviewing.io
Information Technology Résumé Services
Chapter 19 Ten Great Books to Read
Cracking the Coding Interview
Never Split the Difference
Programming Pearls
Daily Coding Problem
The Complete Software Developer’s Career Guide
The Imposter’s Handbook
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Programming Interviews Exposed
The Passionate Programmer
Head First Design Patterns
Index
EULA