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HowtopreparefortopMNCs?|Walkwithmeintothemist

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Walkwithmeintothemist

HowtopreparefortopMNCs?
PostedonOctober22,2016October23,2016byAashishBarnwal

Thispostwasresidinginmydraftforquitelong.Inallygotsometimeoutofmybusyscheduleto
reneit.
TherstquestionquicklypopsuponwhyamIwritingthispostatall.Therearealreadytensof
hundredsofsimilarcompilationsonwebthattalksaboutthis.
Well,followingreasonscompelledmetodoso:
1.BeingaGFGmoderator,Ivebeengeingmanyrequestsfromreadersthroughvarioussocialmedia
(FB,LinkedIn,Quora,InstaGuide)andvariousmailclientsaskingformentorshipandguidelineson
howtopreparefortopMNCslikeMicrosoft,Amazon,Googleetc
2.Havinggonethroughsimilarjourneyandwitnessingmanyofmyfriendssucceeding,Ifeel
knowledgeshouldbeshared.Myexperiencemightbeusefulfornewergenerationswhohappento
chasethesamegoalasoncewasmine

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Pleasenotethatthisarticleispurelyareectionofmylearnings,whatIfollowedthroughtheyearsand
myexperience.ThisisNOTtheonlywaytoimproviseonwhatisneededyourcodingskills,
strengtheningDS&Algorithmsandboostingproblemsolvingskills.Irepeat,thisisNOTtheonlyway.
TherearethingsIcouldntfollowbecauseoftimeconstraintsordidntfollowbecauseIwasjustnot
aware.PleasecommentifImissedanythingwhichisworthmentioninghere.

Language
Languagehasbeenatopicofdebatebetweenaspirantssinceyears.Itsalwaysgoodtomasterone
language,knowinginsandoutofitratherthanhoppingfromonelanguagetoother.Why?Because
sometimesitmighthappentoyouthatwhenyougetaproblem,youstartwonderingwhatlanguage
youshouldchooseandyourfocusiscompromised.Whenyoushouldreallyconcentrateonproblem
solving,Implementationcomeslater.Thenwhileyouarecoding,youplantochangethelanguagein
between.Thiswontserveyougoodininterviews.IfyoureabletosolveaprobleminlanguageX,
eventuallyyouwillalsosolveitinlanguageY.Learninganewlanguageisjustamaeroftime.A
languagemightnotbeaswidelyusedafter5yearsasitisbeingusednow.Yourabilitytosolvea
problemwillwhatmaerinthelongrun.
IusuallyswitchbetweenCandC++.Iftimeisatitscrunch,IprefertouseSTL(standardlibrary
functions)insteadofwritingmyownversionofLinkedList.IfIwanttodevelopaproject,anandroid
appforinstance,Igoforamanagedlanguagebecauseitiseasier.IfIwanttoautomatesomethingto
savemytime,likereplyingandlikingmybirthdaywishes,apythonscriptisthesavinggrace.Yougot
thepoint,right?Masteronelanguageandlearnothersasperrequirements.

DataStructuresandAlgorithms
DataStructuresandAlgorithmsisveryimportantandservesasthebackboneofproblemsolving.
Forbeginners,FundamentalsofDataStructuresinC
(hp://www.amazon.in/dp/8173716056/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_i_awd_d_d4TPxb01SWQA3)bySahni
Horowiisgood.Afterreadingit,youshouldbeabletounderstandbasicDataStructures,howtheyare
implementedandfewerexampleswheretheycanbeused.DontexpecttolearnadvancedDSthrough
this.Afteryourbasicconceptsareclearandyouarecomfortableimplementingtheminalanguageof
yourchoice,youcanworkonlearningalgorithmsandsolvingproblems.
Manysites(includingGeeksforGeeks)presentproblemsinaveryadhocmannerwithnoorderof
dicultylevel.Thismakesthingsdicultforbeginnersbecausetheydontknowthedicultylevelof
theproblemtheyareaempting.DataStructuresandAlgorithmsmadeeasybyNarasimhaKarumanchi
isagoodreadafteryouarecomfortablewiththebasics.Ithaspreygoodcollectionofproblems
organizedbydicultylevel.Justmakesuretotrytosolveproblemsonyourowninsteadofrushingfor
thesolution.
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ForAlgorithms,IntroductiontoAlgorithms(hp://www.amazon.in/IntroductionAlgorithms

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ForAlgorithms,IntroductiontoAlgorithms(hp://www.amazon.in/IntroductionAlgorithms
ThomasHCormen/dp/8120340078?tag=googinhydr1841821)byCormenisamustread.

AdvancedDataStructures
Sometimes,basicDSdontservethepurposetosolveproblemsandyouneedtoadvancedDS.Dayto
dayproblemslikeimplementingaprexbasedsearchforaphonecontactlisttondingthedictionary
wordfromajumbledsequenceofcharactersneedspecialkindofDS.TherearemanyofthemTST,
Trie,Suxtree,Suxarray,Fibonacciheap,Segmenttree,Gapbuer,Rope,Skiplist,KDimensional
treeandsoon.WhileitisgoodtoknowtheimplementationoftheseDS,Iwouldsuggesttoalsoknow
whentouseone.

Problemsolving
Soyougotagun,understandhowtouseit,probablyhaveuseditbefore.Ifyouaregoingtoghtawar,
youwontliketorelyuponyouramateurexperience.Youwouldprefertopracticehardtosaveyourass.
Nowtrytothinkitinperspectiveofproblemsolving.YouknowwhatDSare.Butyoualsoneedtoknow
whentouseone.Welcometotheworldofproblemsolving.Youaregivenaproblemandyouareasked
tosolveit.Thatproblemcanbeanythingstartingfromasimplepuzzletoimplementingauserscenario.
YoumusthavenoticeddegreeofconnectionfeatureinLinkedIn.Howwillyouimplementit?Doesyour
approachtakecareofscalability?Willyourcodecrumblewhenuserbaseincreasestenfolds?Thisisthe
mostimportantskilltopMNCsusuallylookfor.Howdoyouapproachaproblem?Howdoyoudivide
itintomodules?Howdoyousolveeachofthemandthencombinethem?

DynamicProgramming
IseparatedoutDPbecauseitisonemonsterwhichisdiculttomasterupon.Nomaerhowmany
problemsdidyousolveinthepast,anewDPproblemcanalwayssurpriseyou.Themoreyouwill
practice,higherthechanceswillbetondoutpaerns.GoogleispeculiaraboutDP.Youshouldexpect
atleastoneDPproblemperinterviewroundifyouarepreparingforGoogle.PracticeDPsectionfrom:
GeeksforGeeksDynamicProgramming(hp://www.geeksforgeeks.org/tag/dynamic
programming/)
TopCoderDynamicProgrammingFromNovicetoAdvanced
(hps://www.topcoder.com/community/datascience/datasciencetutorials/dynamic
programmingfromnovicetoadvanced/)

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CompetitiveProgramming
CompetitiveProgrammingplaysaveryimportantroleinboostingproblemsolvingskillsandabilityto
performundertimepressure.DoparticipateinvariousonlineportalslikeTopCoder,CodeChef,SPOJ.
HereisapostonGeingstartedinsportofprogramming(hps://drive.google.com/le/d/0BwhjZbbe
MHaR295QWJucWswa0U/view).

Designandtesting
SoyouaregoodinDSandAlgos.Youareprobablygoodinproblemsolvingaswellandyoucomeup
withdierentapproacheswithvaryingtimeandspacecomplexity.Theproblemwhichyousolvein
CompetitiveProgrammingiswelldenedandhastoworkunderanenvironmentwhichnobodywill
probablyuse.Whatifyouareaskedtoimplementauserscenario.Theproblemstatementisusually
vagueandyouneedtodiscussalottoresolveambiguities.Thisiswheredesigncomesintopicture.
Howwillyoudesignaredoundofeature?Whatdatastructureswillyouusetostorehistoryinaweb
browser?Howwillyouimplementautocompletefeatureinaddressbar?LetssayAmazonwantsto
buildafeaturethatwouldresumeavideostoredincloudfromanydevice.Whatdatastructureswill
youuse?Howwillyouscaleupthings?Doesyourdesigntakecareofconcurrencyissues?Whatabout
theperformance?Whatifyouandyourgirlfriendsharethesamecloudaccountandaretryingtoplay
thesamevideofromdierentdevices?
Nowyouhavethoughtthroughthedesignwell,havecomeupwithdierentdatastructurestousewith
prosandconsinmind.Whileimplementing,youmusttakecareofcornercases.Youmustbeaware
abouttheintegeroverowissueinYoutubevideoviewcount.Whileimplementing,theyneverreally
thoughtthattheviewcountcanexceedwhatanintegervariablecanholdandBOOM,theviewcount
cycledbacktozero.
Beforeafeaturegoeslive,itmustbetestedwell.Itisgoodtopracticesometestquestionsaswell.How
willyoutestaInsertimagefeatureinMSWord?Whataboutacutcopypastefeature?Howwillyoutest
TenpleRungame?Trytowriteallthepossibletestcasesandhowyouaregoingtohandlethisinyour
code.Writingarobustcodeisveryimportant.Ifyoutakecareofthesethingsatanearlierstage,youcan
avoidsillybugs.

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Whatelse?
HaveasoundunderstandingofOperatingSystem.Thedinosaurbook
(hp://www.amazon.in/OperatingSystemConceptsInternationalStudent/dp/8126520515?
tag=googinhydr1841821&tag=googinkenshoo21&ascsubtag=76d7fe0155c74933b11495f6b466299d)
byGalvinisagoodread.KnowhownetworkingworksandhaveinsightsonDBMS.

Resumebuilding
Firstimpressionisthebest.ResumeistherstthingthatHRwillusetodecidewhethertocallyoufor
interviewornot.Andtheyhavegothundredsofthem.Sotheywillusuallyscanitfor20secondsto2
minutes.Itshouldbeclean,conciseandelegant.Eachwordmentionedshouldworththespaceiteats.
Theruleofthumbisifyouhavelessthanoneyearofexperience,thesizeofresumeshouldnotexceeda
page(withfewexceptions).
Fewpointstonote:
Maintainaheadertotinfolikename,emailid,addressandcontactnumber
Mentionlevelofexpertisecorrespondingtoeachlanguage.Example:ProcientinCandgoodatJava
Ifyouarementioningaproject,writeyourkeylearning,impactintheteamand.Ifthisprojectis
online(anapp),dontforgettoincludethelink.Thiswillshowthatyoubuiltsomethingthatisbeing
usedbypeople.Guesswhat,thisiswhatcompaniesdo,buildingaproduct,stabilizingitasperuser
feedback,takinginnewfeaturerequestsandsoon.

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HowtoapplyforMicrosoft?
Igetmanymessagesaskingmeforafavourtoreferthem.WhenIaskthemhowmuchcomfortablethey
arewithDSandAlgos,theysaygoodenough.ThenIrephrasemyquestiontohowdotheyfeelwhen
theysolveinterviewexperiencesatGeeksforGeeks.EithertheyhaventheardofGeeksforGeeksorthey
neverread.Thisisnotasurprise.GeeksforGeeksisstillgrowing.ButwhenIaskthemaproblemonDS
bytweakingalreadyexistingfamousones,alltheysayistheyhaventsolvedthisproblembefore.Please
doNOTdothat.Dreamingisgood,butitwillcometrueonlywhenyouworktowardsmakingita
reality.
Ifyouarenotabletocleartheinterviews,youwillhavewaitagainfor612monthsdependingonthe
companypolicybeforeyoucanapplyagain.Nowcomingtothepoint,youcanapplyforapositionat
MicrosofteitherthroughCareerspageorthroughreferral.Referralusuallybumpschancesofgeingan
interviewcallbecauseyourresumegetstothesystemthroughapersonMicrosofttruststobeagood
engineer.Howdoyouaskforareferral?Itssimple.Forwardyourresumetosomeoneyouknow
workingthere.NoonewillsayNOunlessyourresumeislledwithsomethingwhichdoesntt
companyrequirements.Ruleofthumbiswebelieveinsolvingproblemsandifyouaregoodatit,we
wouldlovetoseeyouhere.Remember,everyonewantstoworkwithasmartperson.Andthisisusually
trueforanycompany,notjustforMicrosoft.

DosandDonts
Practice,practiceandpractice
Makeahabitofwritingcleanandreadablecode(avoidvariablesnameslikei,j)
Makesuretohandleallcornercases
Usepenandpapertopracticecode.IninterviewsyouhaveNOaccesstoacompiler
Dontmugupthesolutions.Trytosolveonyourown
Thinkofdierentwaysofsolvingaproblemandthoughtsonwhyoneshouldbepreferredoverthe
other

Resources
IhaveansweredfewquestionsrelatedtointerviewpreparationonQuora.Youmightndsomecontent
missinghereinbloganditisintentionaltoavoidtheduplicationofeorts.Pleasereadmytechnical
answershere(hps://cracktechinterviews.quora.com/Cracktechnicalinterviews).
https://walkwithmeintothemist.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/howtopreparefortopmncs/
Resources(whichIhaventtalkedabout):

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Resources(whichIhaventtalkedabout):
Crackingthecodinginterview(hps://www.amazon.com/CrackingCodingInterview
ProgrammingQuestions/dp/0984782850)byGayleLaakmann:Amustreadoncebeforeinterviews.
Itcoversaspectslikewhatinterviewersexpectfromyou,howtodealwithbehavioralquestionsand
fewinterestingproblems.Itwillchangeyourthoughtsaboutdesignandtestproblemsforgood
GeeksforGeeks(hp://geeksforgeeks.org):Abibleofproblems(withwellexplainedsolutions).
MakesureyoudoNOTrushforsolutions.Trytosolveproblemsonyourownnomaerhowmuch
timedoesittake.Withtimeandhonestpractice,youshouldgetbeer
CareerCup(hp://www.careercup.com/):Ahugecollectionofproblems.Thoughyoucantrelyupon
solutions,itprovidesarichcommunityfordiscussingproblems.Ifounditgoodfordiscussing
designproblems
LeetCode(hps://leetcode.com/):Againnicecollectionofproblems
ProjectEuler(hps://projecteuler.net/):Aheavenformathematicslovers.Yousolvetheproblems
usingsomeformulasonpaperandthenwritecodetogetthenalsolution.Solveatleast40
problemsfromthissite.
Youmightlikefollowingwriteups:
JourneyofaboyfromsmalltowntoMicrosoftAnuntoldstory
(hps://walkwithmeintothemist.wordpress.com/2016/08/14/journeyofaboyfromsmalltownto
microsoftanuntoldstorypart1/)
GeekonthetopAashishBarnwal|Makeahabitofwritingclean,readable,exibleandrobust
code(hp://www.geeksforgeeks.org/geekonthetopaashishbarnwal/)
HowdoIgoaboutpreparingforinterviewsongeeksforgeeks.org?Itssovast.
(hps://www.quora.com/HowdoIgoaboutpreparingforinterviewsongeeksforgeeksorgIts
sovast/answer/AashishBarnwal)
WhatshouldIdointhenext6monthstogetintoacompanylikeAmazon/Google?
(hps://www.quora.com/WhatshouldIdointhenext6monthstogetintoacompanylike
AmazonGoogle)
Whatarethetop20websitesforinterviewpreparation?(hps://www.quora.com/Whatarethe
top20websitesforinterviewpreparation)
Goodluck!
Ifyoulikemywriting,pleasefollowmy:
Photographyblog(hp://capturingmomentsinpixels.wordpress.com/)
Travelblog(hp://talesoftraveler.wordpress.com/)
Techcolumn(hps://cracktechinterviews.quora.com/)
Copyright2016,AashishBarnwal,Allrightsreserved.

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