Tech Interview Prep: Expert Advice from an Amazon Principal Engineer

Name: Tech Interview Prep: Expert Advice from an Amazon Principal Engineer
Uploaded: 2023-06-27 15:25:57
Description: To land a senior engineering role at a top company, it is important to focus on effective preparation for technical interviews, including coding, system design, and leadership questions.

This article is a summary of a YouTube video "Most Tech Interview Prep is GARBAGE. (From a Principal Engineer at Amazon)" by A Life Engineered

TLDR To land a senior engineering role at a top company, it is important to focus on effective preparation for technical interviews, including coding, system design, and leadership questions.

Key insights

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Bad hires can bring down software quality, cause problems, and lower team morale, potentially even impacting the survival of a small company.
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"Coding is necessary but not sufficient companies are looking for people that can contribute meaningfully to projects that take many people potentially years to complete for fan companies."
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System design questions require a different approach than coding problems, as they are veiled behavioral questions that require the coordination of many people to design, implement, test, and maintain a system.
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Companies avoid asking leadership questions in a situational manner because it's easy to answer abstractly, making it important to ask behavioral questions to truly gauge a candidate's leadership skills.
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"Leadership without authority is really hard to do. It requires that you have the technical chops to contribute meaningfully to big projects."
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"Most tech interview prep is garbage because it doesn't focus on the actual skills needed for the job."
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The most effective way to answer behavioral questions in tech interviews is to tell a good story because stories allow you to communicate multiple dimensions of information efficiently.
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Don't focus solely on coding questions in tech interviews, creating a stable of stories that demonstrate your experience is critical for success.

Timestamped Summary

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00:00
Stop wasting time on coding problems and focus on effective preparation for technical interviews if you want to land a senior engineering role at a top company.
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01:39
Hiring a bad software engineer can cost a company hundreds of thousands of dollars and negatively impact software quality, team morale, and overall business success, while a good hire can prevent problems, improve software quality, and contribute to future success.
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02:38
Tech interviews rely on data structures and algorithms questions to screen out unqualified applicants, but coding skills alone are not enough; companies also value candidates who can contribute to large projects and demonstrate leadership in system design.
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04:47
System design questions are different from coding problems and require a deep understanding of how software components work together to achieve an outcome.
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05:47
Tech interview prep should cover coding, system design, and leadership questions, as they test coding ability, system design, and leadership skills, with experience being crucial in answering questions about scaling, uptime, resiliency, and speed.
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07:17
Senior and principal engineers need technical expertise, problem-solving skills, and the ability to handle software quality and scalability to excel in system design and leadership roles, and their answers to leadership questions can indicate their fit for a company and level of expertise.
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08:42
Allocate study time proportionally based on expectations at your level of preparation.
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10:25
Focus on coding for junior entry-level interviews, but for senior and principal engineers, storytelling in behavioral questions is crucial to showcase skills and experience.