Grokking the Coding Interview: Patterns for Coding Questions

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System Design Interview Practice

System Design + Behavioral Interview (45-minute exercise)

Recruiters and hiring managers often ask about the projects you have worked on. To excel at answering these types of questions, it's important to strike the right balance. They may be interested in understanding your technical abilities and verifying the information listed on your resume.

Materials Needed:

  • Whiteboard or shared document for note-taking and brainstorming
  • Timer or clock to keep track of time

Instructions:

  1. Divide the team into pairs.
  2. Each pair will be given 2-3 behavioral questions from the list to answer in 10 minutes.
  3. After 10 minutes, pairs will present their answers to the rest of the team.
  4. As a team, discuss and give feedback on the answers, focusing on communication, problem-solving, data-driven decision-making, and leadership.
  5. After the discussion, the team will be given a project scenario to work on together. They will have 20 minutes to discuss the project scenario, using the skills they have learned and practiced in the previous exercise. The project scenario can be a fictional or real-life scenario that relates to the team's work.
  6. As a team, the goal is to come up with a project plan that includes system design, budget, scope, timeline, and any other important information related to the project. The team should focus on being data-driven and making decisions based on facts.
  7. After 20 minutes, each pair will present their project plan to the rest of the team.
  8. As a team, discuss and give feedback on the project plans, focusing on the effectiveness of the team's communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
  9. Close the exercise with a discussion on what the team has learned and how they can apply these skills to their work.

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