I’ve interviewed at and gotten offers from Google, Stripe,...
Zain Rizvi@ZainRzv
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Apr 21, 2026
~2 min read
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I’ve interviewed at and gotten offers from Google, Stripe, Facebook, Microsoft, Patreon, and more
Here are the 5 best resources I found that helped me prepare for their Coding, Design, and Behavioral interview gauntlets
🧵
Here are the 5 best resources I found that helped me prepare for their Coding, Design, and Behavioral interview gauntlets
🧵
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For Coding Interviews
1. Cracking the coding interview (the universally loved)
It’s a classic for a reason. Read the book, do all the exercises. This one is table stakes
amazon.com/cracking-codin…
1. Cracking the coding interview (the universally loved)
It’s a classic for a reason. Read the book, do all the exercises. This one is table stakes
amazon.com/cracking-codin…
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2. The Algorithm Design Manual by Steven S. Skiena.pdf
This one teaches you the advanced stuff.
Read each chapter and do *at least* every other exercise problem.
This trains your brain to think in the shape of most algorithm Qs
amazon.com/algorithm-desi…
This one teaches you the advanced stuff.
Read each chapter and do *at least* every other exercise problem.
This trains your brain to think in the shape of most algorithm Qs
amazon.com/algorithm-desi…
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For System Design Interviews:
You can’t beat @alexxubyte’s System Design Interview books
Volume 1 transformed the way I viewed design interviews
I haven’t read volume 2 yet but it looks even more focused on designing online services
amazon.com/System-Design-…
You can’t beat @alexxubyte’s System Design Interview books
Volume 1 transformed the way I viewed design interviews
I haven’t read volume 2 yet but it looks even more focused on designing online services
amazon.com/System-Design-…
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For Behavioral Interviews:
You need to know two things:
1. The STAR method, for how to frame your answers
It breaks down your responses into 4 sections to make the story easier to understand
- Situation
- Task
- Action
- Result
thebalancecareers.com/what-is-the-st…
You need to know two things:
1. The STAR method, for how to frame your answers
It breaks down your responses into 4 sections to make the story easier to understand
- Situation
- Task
- Action
- Result
thebalancecareers.com/what-is-the-st…
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2. A list of questions to prepare for. Amazon’s 12 leadership principles work great here
aboutamazon.com/about-us/leade…
Dig into your own history to find 12 stories that cover each principles.
You can then adapt those stories to answer almost any behavioral question that comes up
aboutamazon.com/about-us/leade…
Dig into your own history to find 12 stories that cover each principles.
You can then adapt those stories to answer almost any behavioral question that comes up
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Each of these interview types takes a lot of work to prepare for, but you invest the effort once and it’ll pay you dividends in interviews for years to come.
It’s hard to find a higher ROI activity!
It’s hard to find a higher ROI activity!
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And if you want to get even more in depth insider advice on how to ace software interviews, check out this course
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