Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

Re:Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s by sdnlafkjh34rw on Friday January 10, 2020 @05:53PM (#22016510)

I failed the first time and passed the 2nd. I'm interviewing now so waiting to see if I get other offers.

To explain, one of the interviewers walked in and asked "have you heard of the rope data structure?"

I said "no" because I hadn't and he was like "great because otherwise I would give you another question". He then asked me to build 2 key functions for the data structure. I didn't need to study it beforehand, and if I did he would have gave me another question.

I think if they give you an uncommon data structure the expectation is that you have prior knowledge of it. This question was the favorite part of my interview loop (we chatted a bit about how google uses rope data structures)

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Re:Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s by whycombagator on Friday January 10, 2020 @06:50PM (#22016842)

Thanks for elaborating!

Was this part of the interview challenging? Seems to me like a surprise data structure coming up in an interview could be a bad thing (in terms of doing well).

Edit: What have your other interview experiences been like? Similar to Google, or would different/more preparation be required?

Also, what level are you at/interviewing for at these companies?

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