One year of consistency and finally got an offer in the UK(Posting a little late).

Background: I am a Software developer in a product-based company with 3.8 years of experience. I have done my M.Tech in Information Technology from IIIT-Allahabad. I was one of those who were happy and satisfied with her 9-6.30 Job till the dream of FAANG strike on my mind.

My Leetcode journey started in October 2019 after rejecting from GOOGLE’s 2nd round. That day was the most significant turning point of my career-I was severely disappointed because I could not answer even simple DP questions. My coding level was not up to the class, and I clearly understood that my dream demands me to work hard and I started Leetcoding after my friend’s suggestion.

With the dream of FAANG, I started solving Leetcode questions. Initially, I have faced difficulty solving Easy problems, so I chose to be solved the same topic questions continuously. Once I got confident about one topic, I usually switched to the next topic. I was in my 9-6 job, so I hardly managed to solve two problems daily. So, I stopped my outing on the weekend and started utilizing those hours to solve questions.
April 2020(Covid outbreak National Locked downtime)-My company allowed me to work from home and converted my travel time/pre-office or post-office preparation time to study. I bought leetcode premium and started solving company-based questions(My targeted company was Amazon/Microsoft). As an early riser, I managed my 2 hours of morning time to understand new algorithms, and after office hours, I used to solve questions based on those algorithms. After some days, it became my daily habit, and I realized I could solve the medium problem without seeing any hint. Then I also started participating in bi-weekly and weekly tests. Although I was not able to solve all problems, I learned the importance of time management.
One day my all flatmates left for their hometown because their company allowed them to WFH. I prefer to make time for an opportunity rather than a crying lonely baby. I had a hell of a lot of time with no disturbance. I practised a lot, and after a couple of months, Leetcode became my favourite pass time. I used to manage 3-4 hours daily to spend on the understanding concept and solving problems. On weekends, I practised Leetcode questions from morning tea to evening snacks with 2-3 small breaks (My highest submission was 35 problems daily).
One day I realized I had completed 500+ questions, and I was ready to apply for interviews.
Then I started applying to companies around mid-October 2020, and initially, I had to face a couple of rejections from many good companies. I will share my experience in a different post.
Finally, the happiest day came in December 2020, I got an offer from UKAEA Oxfordshire, and I am finally here in London 😊

Thank you so much to all the leetcoders. You all helped to a lot throughout my journey. Whenever I was stuck at any point, the discussion section helped me.
Leetcoder was like a true friend and helped me to improve myself a little more.

Thanks for reading.