In my journey of engineering, I cleared interviews at Microsoft, Amazon & Adobe. I was also fortunate enough to work at Microsoft as my first company.
Prior to this, I did fail interviews at Smartprix & Fidelity.
Here are the 4 MISTAKES I would suggest you not to do.
1) Not focusing on Problem-Solving in DS & Algo
Problem-Solving in DS & Algo is one of the most important aspects of a product interview.
Yet, when I talk to a lot of learners, they focus on their development skills a lot which is good. However, Focusing on DS & Algo is essential.
You can start with solving 2 problems each day from Leetcode.
2) Not doing enough Mock Interviews
The first interview I ever gave was of Goldman Sachs.
I failed it because I was soo nervous that I was not able to give my 100% in the interview.
And this could be improved if you give mock interviews with mentors working at top product companies.
A mock interview with a mentor will help you understand:
- whether you are ready for top tech interviews?
- aspects where you are lacking & how to improve on them?
- confidence in your ability to crack interviews
And many more..
3) Not going through our past experience & projects in detail
Most probably, one of your rounds will talk about your past experience and projects. Yet, a lot of learners I meet do not prepare for them.
You should go through your past experience & projects and try to answer the following questions:
- What did I build?
- What problem I solved using the product?
- What was the impact of the product?
- What were the metrics we were tracking & how did we achieve this?
- What were the challenges I faced while building this project?
- What did I learn from the project?
4) Relying solely on Online Applications
While applying online through LinkedIn or the company portal is a standard practice, which you must do.
However, there are other ways of applying as well which you should definitely use.
These are:
- Cold emails to recruiters, hiring managers, engineering managers, and senior engineers
- Hackathons that provide job opportunities
- Reaching out to people on LinkedIn & Building connections
Conclusion:
We talked about 4 mistakes that you can avoid while doing your preparation for top product interviews.
If you improve over these 4 mistakes in your preparation strategy, I am confident you will come close to your dream role much sooner.
