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What stands between you and your dream job?
Ask this question to a software professional who’s aspiring to work at FAANG or any other top tech company, and the answer, almost unanimously, would be coding interviews. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google (FAANG), or any top-tier global tech giant want to hire erudite programmers that are creative and clever problem solvers. Therefore, the coding interviews at these companies are intentionally designed to be rigorous and challenging.
In all fairness, getting into FAANG or any other tier 1 tech company is difficult, even for experienced engineers with proven aptitude and excellence. This is because cracking coding interviews at FAANG calls for a different mindset and approach than what most software developers are used to in their day-to-day professional lives.
And the reason why the majority of candidates don’t clear coding interviews is not that they don’t perform well during the interview. It’s because they don’t perform well during the preparation.
The prep strategy to crack a coding interview should be geared toward what skills the hiring managers are looking for, how to develop those skills, and how to demonstrate them during the interviews. If done in the right way, in as little as two months, you’ll be fully ready to ace your next technical interview at FAANG.
At Interview Kickstart (IK), we’ve helped over 5000 candidates get offers from their dream companies through our 2-month coding interview preparation course.
In this article, we talk about how we do that. Here’s what we’ll cover:
- Why are coding interviews at FAANG tough?
- What makes IK’s coding interview prep course the best
- What does IK’s 2-month coding interview course cover?
- IK’s training program structure
- The success rate of the IK program
- What our Alumni says
- FAQs about IK’s coding interview prep course
First, let’s see why coding interviews at big tech firms are tough and why you need special training to crack them.
Why Are Coding Interviews at FAANG Tough?
Cracking tech interviews at FAANG and other big tech companies is tough for several reasons.
- The number of candidates applying for technical positions is enormous.
- The time frame in which the hiring managers have to decide if a candidate is fit for the role is too narrow.
- The stakes are high. A bad hire can prove costly to the company in terms of time, money, training, and negative output.
Owing to these reasons, the interview process is designed in a way that only the best are filtered in with minimum expenditure of resources.
So, how do these companies make their interview processes tough? By setting sky-high expectations for the candidates in the following areas:
- Intensive testing of DS and Algorithms knowledge – Regardless of your domain expertise, technical interviews test you on core data structures and algorithms. To crack coding interviews, you're pretty much expected to be a master in DS and algorithms. And this takes considerable devotion and time!
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- Quick problem-solving capability – You’re expected to be a superb problem solver and demonstrate the ability to solve complex programming problems in short periods.
- Articulation of your thought process, even when solving ambiguous problems – You’ll be asked to substantiate your approach to a problem. You should be able to explain to them clearly and concisely why you took the decisions you took while solving them. How well you articulate your thought process and problem-solving approach will determine how far you go.
- Adaptability to unpredictable interview formats – You never know in what fashion you have to present your code. Hiring managers often switch between whiteboards, a shared document, an unfamiliar coding platform, or even a sheet of paper. You can be caught off-guard at any moment if you aren't up to it.
- Exceptional performance in behavioral interview rounds – Your performance in the technical rounds alone does not determine the outcome. You also have to perform well in behavioral interviews. Behavioral interviews test your temperament and how you handle different kinds of situations. Even technically sound candidates often fail to get an offer courtesy of falling short in the behavioral round.
What Makes IK’s Coding Interview Prep Course the Best
If you want to settle for nothing but the best for your coding interview preparation, enrolling for Interview Kickstart’s course can be your ticket to land dream offers at the biggest tech companies.
Here's why IK's MasterClass coding interview prep course is the best.
Our Instructors Are Actual Hiring Managers
The instructors that train our students for interviews are actively employed as Hiring Managers at FAANG and other tier-1 tech companies. Owing to their current role exposure, they're aware of how the process works, what's expected of candidates, and what changes take shape over time. Their proximity to the process makes them real forces to reckon with, giving our candidates the much-needed edge they need.
One Program for Technical and Behavioral Interviews
IK conducts live classes for both technical and behavioral interviews. The course is structured keeping in mind the latest trends in the technical interview landscape and also to prepare you for the unexpected. It focuses on training you for behavioral interview rounds as they are equally important if you’re to land an offer.
As a result, by the end of the course, you emerge as not only a proficient but also a better software professional capable of taking on bigger roles.
One-to-one Mentorship
A key highlight of IK's program is the one-on-one mentorship with highly qualified technical leads and hiring managers who are employed with FAANG companies. Over the course of the 6-month extended support period, you're free to ask questions and clarify your answers with your mentor. You're free to choose your mentor during the support period.
Live Mock Interviews
Mock interviews can be a game-changer when preparing for interviews as it gives you a solid edge by showing you what areas you need to improve on. Mock interviews, especially with expert professionals, play a crucial role in developing and polishing your interviewing skills. At IK, you're allowed to take as many as 15 live mock interviews with technical leads/hiring managers from FAANG and top tech companies.
Negotiating Your Offer
The first offer isn't always the best, and our candidates at IK have had the privilege of landing offers from more than one company. Several times, candidates find themselves landing 3-4 offers from the biggest tech firms. IK’s offer negotiation team will work with you one-on-one to help you unlock just the right offer at your dream company.
Flexible Schedule for Professionals
Are you currently working? That shouldn’t stop you from taking a big leap in your career. IK's program is specially designed keeping in mind the time constraints of working professionals allowing you the flexibility to select the schedule that works best for you. Our classes are spread out evenly, giving you ample time to practice and prepare.
What Does IK's 2-Month Coding Interview Prep Course Cover?
Okay, so now you know why you should enroll in Interview Kickstart’s 2-month technical interview MasterClass. But, what exactly will you learn in these two months? And why does IK have the best coding interview prep course in the country?
Here’s what you’ll learn through our 2-month long comprehensive program that trains you to crack technical interviews at FAANG companies.
Months 1 and 2
The first two months are focused on technical training. The following topics are covered as part of our in-depth technical curriculum.
- Sorting Algorithms
- Recursion and Backtracking
- Strings
- Trees and Its Variants
- Linked Lists, Stacks, and Queues
- Graphs and its Variants
- Dynamic Programming
The 6-Month Support Period
After completing the 2-month course, IK offers its students a 6-month extended support period where you’ll have access to a mentor. You can get your technical concepts clarified with them and also seek guidance in other matters such as offer and salary negotiations.
Here’s what the support period will help you with:
- Interview Success Strategy
- Building a FAANG-ready resume and LinkedIn profile
- Behavioral Interviews
- Offer Negotiation & Strategy
Note that our program is constantly upgraded as we work very closely with hiring managers from FAANG companies. Our instructors are up-to-date with developing trends in the world of technical interviews, enabling our students to be thoroughly prepared for what is to come.
IK Coding Interview Training Program Structure
Interview Kickstart runs multiple cohorts a month, allowing candidates to choose an appropriate time to sign-up for the program.
Let’s look at the program structure in more detail.
Beginning of the Program
Onboarding session: The mandatory onboarding session gives you an overview of the entire program. It also discusses how you can make the best use of the program to level up your career.
Career Alignment session: This session focuses primarily on understanding the career path you wish to pursue, the relevance of your current experience, and how to go about targeting specific companies of interest. Post this session, your learning will be customized to align with your career goals.
The 2-Month Program Schedule
The first two months will focus mainly on core technical concepts that feature in technical interviews. You’ll learn in-depth about the underlying principles of data structures, algorithms, and systems design — building up on this knowledge, you’ll be able to solve increasingly difficult problems around these concepts. The objective is to train you to get better at problem-solving, as that’s precisely what you’ll be tested on in your coding interviews.
To crack technical interviews at FAANG, you must practice numerous problems of varying difficulty, get trained to think out loud with clarity, and eventually build your ability to solve more challenging and tricky problems.
Weekly schedule for 2 Months:
- Friday: You’ll receive the pre-class study material for the next week’s topic
- Sunday: Live Class on the week’s topic with a Tier 1 Tech Instructor
- Monday to Wednesday: Solve practice problems on the topic
- Thursday: Live Timed-Test on the week’s topic, followed by a discussion
Note that the last two weeks of the program will focus on domain-specific interviews.
Schedule for the 6-Month Support Period
In the next 6-months, during the IK support period, the focus will be on building your online profile and personal brand to land interviews at top companies.
During this 6-month support period, you’ll have access to:
- Unlimited live one-on-one technical and career coaching: Clear doubts regarding concepts, attend additional classes if needed, and get help in building your personal brand.
- Unlimited live one-on-one mentorship sessions: Tips on how to go about solving certain problems and cracking interviews in specific companies
- 15 live mock interviews: Practice mock interviews with FAANG hiring managers and get valuable feedback on your performance and progress. You can take mock interviews after completion of the 2-month program.
Success Rate of IK’s Program
The fundamental focus of Interview Kickstart’s program is to help engineers take their careers to the next level. Engineers who've joined IK's MasterClass have been fortunate to enjoy a success rate of over 95%, making IK's program one of the most successful and sought-after in the US.
Thus far, Interview Kickstart has successfully trained over 5000 engineers that have landed multiple offers with FAANG and tier-1 companies.
If you take up the program and fail to land an offer within 6-months, IK is committed to refunding 50% of your program fees.
What Our Alumni Says
1. Neelesh Tendulkar
Offers: Google, Intuit
"Each instructor-led session was packed with information, and there were lots of problems to practice. The course was intense, but it was a great use of my time."
2. Flavia Vela
Offers: LinkedIn, Amazon
"The classes, workshops, quizzes, practice problems, and mock interviews provided me with the knowledge, tools, and the feedback that I was missing. Interview Kickstart showed me how to prepare for success."
3. Michael Huston
Offers: Databricks, Airbnb, Amazon
"I can't think of a better recipe for tech interview success than combining the Interview Kickstart program with hard work. The program made my prep much more effective and eliminated surprises from the interview process."
Related read:
One of our alumni discusses how he succeeded in achieving his goals through IK’s training program. Check out the post here.
And here’s another post where our student landed a job at Facebook amid layoffs and hiring freezes.
You can read more student stories here.
FAQs about IK’s Coding Interview Course
1. What can IK’s coding interview prep course offer me that other courses can’t?
These are a few things that make Interview Kickstart’s 2-month program the best preparation course for coding interviews:
- Our program is tailored to meet your specific needs — that is, your learning objectives and career goals.
- Our faculty are actual hiring and recruitment managers at FAANG
- Our program flexible and matches your schedule and preferences
- It offers all-round support — technical interview training, behavioral interview training, and emotional support to deal with the mental stress of preparing for rigorous coding interviews
- There is a 6-month extended support period with access to a mentor and support on offer negotiations, career counseling, and lots more.
- If you don’t land a job after satisfactorily completing the course with us, IK promises to refund 50% of your program fees.
- We have a success rate of more than 95%!
IK’s coding interview training program is the best to help you prepare for coding interviews because it revolves around you. We want to help you take your career to the next level and get your dream job, but we also you to be a better software professional by the end of this 2 (plus 6) months journey with us.
2. Can professionals from all technology domains enroll for IK’s coding interview program?
Any software developer/engineer with experience of 2 to 20 years and from any of the following technology domains will find IK’s coding interview program immensely helpful.
- Front-end
- Back-end
- Full-stack
- Automation Testing
- Machine learning
- Artificial Intelligence
- Data Science
- iOS
- Java, Python, C++, or PHP
- Technical Program Manager
- Engineering Manager
- Software Developer
- Software Engineer
3. Are 2 Months Seriously Enough for Coding Interview Preparation?
Well, the answer is a definite yes, going by the data we have from having coached over 5000 students.
If you know what exactly to do, what areas to focus on, and how to calibrate your prep, you can most certainly crack technical and behavioral interviews at any FAANG company in 2 months.
However, if your approach is random and lacks direction and depth, then even six months isn't near enough time, which happens with most aspiring candidates.
This is why Interview Kickstart’s preparation course for coding interviews is the best, with an exceptionally high success rate. Our coding interview programs have been developed and delivered by subject matter experts, technical leads, and hiring managers at FAANG, giving you a massive edge catapulting you ahead of other candidates.
Plus, we make it a point to upgrade our program regularly to reflect the latest changes in the coding interview ecosystem.
Related read: How long does it take to prepare for coding interviews?
To know more about Interview Kickstart or to enroll in our technical interview prep course, register for our FREE webinar hosted by one of IK’s founders and get all your questions answered.
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