Ace Your FAANG Interviews With These Five Efficient Tactics

Many of the tech graduates today target the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix & Google) companies, owing to the unparalleled work environment and the perquisites they offer. These include high salaries, a balanced and productive work culture, and the learning exposure and career growth they provide. Similar is the case with other giant tech companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Twitter, etc.

Thus, it becomes pretty evident that FAANG interviews are not very easy to crack; individuals (particularly final year college students or freshers) often find it difficult to get the interview preparation done the right way. One requires sufficient preparation to ‘stand out’ through quality learning resources and a robust interview strategy. One also needs to master the requisite tech and other non-tech skills to make it through the interview into one’s dream company. 

In this article, we have attempted to provide you with some highly effective strategies that can come in handy for preparingFAANG interviews.

1. Do adequate research about the company and the targeted job profile

The very first step in the interview preparation is conducting proper research about the company, the targeted job profile, and understanding the company’s interview process in general. This will get one acquainted with the company’s core values, products or services it works in, its work culture, what skills it's looking for in a candidate for the particular post, how many interview rounds it often conducts (there generally occur 5-7 interview rounds in FAANG companies), etc.

This will give one an upper hand and some confidence in the interviews, for one would know what one is exactly getting into and would form a better impression on the panel. 

2. Get proficient with required tech skills

Undoubtedly, the most crucial part of the preparation is getting a stronghold over all the required tech skills for FAANG Interviews.

1. Programming Language: Foremostly, having proficiency with the programming fundamentals is a prerequisite. Companies often ask various interview questions based on the programming languages, focusing on the basic or core concepts. One may pick any of the standards and relevant programming languages like Java, Python, C++, etc. as per preference or domain requirements and get the basics thoroughly cleared.
2. Data Structures and Algorithms: Next, one needs to be adequately skilled when it comes to Data Structures and Algorithms. From basic Data Structures like Arrays, Strings, Stack, etc. to advanced ones like Tree, Graph, etc. to Analysis of Algorithms, Searching / Sorting, Dynamic Programming, etc. – one needs to cover everything comprehensively. FAANG companies attach great importance to DSA skills.
3. Core CS Subjects: Questions on core CS Subjects like Operating Systems, Computer Networks, and Database Management Systems are often raised during the tech interviews. Hence, one must have a thorough preparation of these subjects and understand all the important concepts with clarity.
4. System Design: System Design is another crucial subject to prepare for FAANG interviews. Learning System Design is ideally more preferable for the candidates who’re applying for senior positions like SDE 2, SDE 3, Senior Software Engineer, etc; for freshers, proficiency with other core subjects like operating systems or computer networks should be sufficient. However, as a fresher, if one has at least a fundamental understanding of System Design then it may provide one with an edge over other candidates during the interview.

3. Practice as many programming problems as possible

In order to familiarise oneself with the type of programming problems asked in the interview rounds, one should do as many programming questions as possible beforehand. This will help strengthen one’s knowledge and programming skills and help increase the efficiency to solve these problems. And, without any doubt, Data Structures & Algorithms is more about practising – hence, the more problems one solves, the more proficient one becomes with the DSA skills. Along with this, one should also participate in several standard coding contests and challenges for more programming exposure. This will also help boost the resume.

4. Be prepared for questions based on technical projects 

To assess the technical proficiency of the candidate and other non-tech skills, interviewers ask the candidate questions centered on the projects done by her/him. Questions are asked about how she/he dealt with the challenges faced, tools and tech stack used for the project, its real-time applications, approach for managing the project, etc. One of the most common mistakes by candidates while preparing for the FAANG interview or any other tech interview is that they often tend to miss out on preparing for the questions based on the projects that they’ve mentioned in their resume or portfolio. One must never make this mistake. 

5. Practice with mock interviews and test series

Finally, having done with the interview preparation, the last step that remains is assessing oneself. Mock interviews and test series help candidates test their preparation and make them aware of their strengths and weaknesses. One can take the help of a mentor, seniors, or friends, who can give the appropriate feedback for one’s performance. Moreover, there are various quality test series available out there that one can opt to level up the interview preparation game.

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