🥜Cracking the Coding Interview
In the midst of 2009's turbulent job market.
I made the drive from the panhandle to Orlando FL only to be met with the cold reality of rejection.
I recall being thrown a curveball during an interview:
"Distinguish between the functions of String and StringBuilder."
Fumbling to articulate a coherent response, I recognized the need for a strategic overhaul in my approach.
It was from that experience that I recognized that my skill set needed to be in alignment with the dynamic demands of the software development industry.
My advice to developers whether junior or senior is that acing an interview is but a stepping stone.
When your resume gets passed from the recruiter's gaze and lands in the hands of the hiring manager. They are seeking the missing piece to their jigsaw puzzle that is the development team.
Never forget that the true essence of your value lies not in your ability to ace interviews, but in your aptitude to navigate the challenges of real-world coding scenarios.
In some hiring circles there has been a tendency to over rely on leetcode or other coding puzzles. To get an edge countless developers invest disproportionate amounts of time to conquer these tests. Neglecting the true essence of coding mastery found in practical project experience.
LeetCode may pave the way to the interview, but it's the real-world projects that fuels growth and learning.
💡Your GitHub repository is the tangible evidence of your skill set, as demonstrated by a portfolio of your projects not coding exercises.
I've witnessed the evolution of these coding tests since 2012, and while I understand the allure of these puzzles. The goal for me, as the interviewer, has been to determine how the candidate responds under pressure.
Can you smile and prevail, or do you succumb to a paralyzing panic?
Do you have an understanding of data structures?
Does your GitHub reflect quality over quantity?
Do you have a README?
Do you cultivate a practice of continuous documentation?
A mistake I made when I was a junior developer was that I did not document my process. I would solve problems, but rarely would I document the solution.
❌I used to view documentation as a waste of time. ❌
Documenting your projects is helpful to showcase your work. Remember your projects shine brighter than a sea of mundane coding exercises.
It is the tangible evidence of your skill set, as demonstrated by a portfolio with well-crafted projects, that truly sets you apart in the eyes of hiring managers.
Dive into the ocean of knowledge, swim in the diversity of programming languages, try out new IDEs and tools. After all continuous learning is the hallmark of a successful software developer.
Come say hi 👋 I love to chat at LinkedIn.