• YoE - 1.5
• Current TC - 8 LPA INR
• Education - CS Bachelor's Degree from Tier 3 college

Hi Leetcode! I am currently working in a mid-tier company and started there fresh out of college. I had applied previously to Amazon, made it till the Hiring Manager round but got rejected at the end. My birthday is on 21 June and I am trying to switch to FAANG/companies with competitive offers. I read here that writing it down really helps you commit to it, hence this post.

Self Analysis

Following is some self-analysis about my skill level :-

• I have had decent exposure to DSA in college (so I am not a total beginner), but it was very spaced out, and I feel like I lack the practice that is required to make the coding part of the interview as easy as possible. And since I joined my current org, that practice has been non-existent.
• Whenever I do problems, I tend to get quick-wins rather than try and struggle to solve a difficult problem, I keep wallowing in the Easy problem puddle. Hence, I get bowled over when faced with a slightly twisted problem, which leads to discouragement since I can't solve them.

Plan

Given the above analysis, following is the plan I have come up with :-

• Solve 2-3 leetcode problems daily on weekdays - 2 Medium or 2 Medium, 1 Hard
• Crank as many problems as possible on weekends - 5 Easy, 2-3 Medium, 1-2 Hard on Saturday and Sunday each.
• Maintain an excel sheet of solved problems, with short comments/remarks on approach used.
• Practice mock interviews with a friend once every fortnight.
• Plan to write weekly update posts here on Leetcode discuss to journal my preparation.

Questions

Here are some questions I have about my strategy, and some other general questions :-

• Is the plan realistic given my work hours are about 9-10 hours per day? Or is it too ambitious?
• How long should I try to knock down a problem before I can look at discussions?
• How do you assess your confidence for interviews? I always feel like I am never ready.
• Any other suggestions/feedback is most welcome.

Thanks,
2weak2slow