8 WEEK

TO ACE YOUR
SOFTWARE ENGINEER
INTERVIEW
WHY EVERY DEV NEEDS A
STRATEGIC INTERVIEW PREP PLAN
Out of every 100 software engineer applicants at top companies, only 5 are typically
selected for a preliminary screening. Then out of every 5 applicants who make it to the
final interview round, only 1 will get an offer.

To put it simply: software engineer roles are competitive.

A strong performance in the technical interview loop is critical for landing a job as a
software engineer. Going to an interview unprepared can mean losing out on the first
big step in your career.

!!

That's why we created this 8-week roadmap: to help developers brush up

on basics, refresh their interview skills, and walk into their loops with
confidence.

Each week will break down the technical topics to review along
with questions to practice.
Before we share a few essential tips for efficient prep, here is an overview of the 8-week
roadmap:

8-WEEK INTERVIEW PREP ROADMAP

Week 1 Brush up on programming basics

Weeks 2 & 3 Review data structures & algorithms

Week 4 Practice with data structures & algorithms

Weeks 5 & 6 Test your skills with real-world coding problems

Weeks 7 & 8 Design interview & behavioral interview

Note that each week will be broken down in detail later.

EDUCATIVE IS YOUR
HACK TO FASTER INTERVIEW PREP
Join over 2.6 million developers leveling up their careers with Educative. Our
interactive learning platform offers hands-on experiences designed to help you build
and practice in-demand skills.

2.6 MILLION DEVELOPERS

Our resources have helped developers get hired at Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta,
and Apple. The strategies you will learn are developed by MAANG hiring managers to
help candidates navigate interview loops at top companies.

> Everything you need for every interview, all in one place.
WHAT’S THE FASTEST PATH
TO INTERVIEW SUCCESS?
The job market for software developers is as competitive as ever. That means standing
out from other candidates in the interview loop can be
a challenge.

In such a tough job market, the only thing you fully control is how you prepare.

Here's an example timeline to help you prepare comprehensively, but efficiently.

CODING INTERVIEW
(60-90 MINS)

SYSTEM DESIGN INTERVIEW

(45-60 MINS)

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW
(45-60 MINS)

A structured prep plan gives you a framework for studying crucial topics, while helping
you efficiently budget your time. On the day of your interview, you don't want to be
caught off guard by a question you didn't anticipate. Knowing you've done everything
you can to prepare brings peace of mind when you're in the hot seat.

> Disclaimer: You may need more or less time; this is just a frame of reference. You
should consider our suggested review topics and example problems in the context
of your needs.
TAILORED INTERVIEW PREP PLANS:
SMARTER PRACTICE, FASTER RESULTS
Educative's AI-powered, adaptive Interview Prep Plans help you prepare more efficiently
for every phase of your technical interview loop. Powered by PAL (Personalized Adaptive
Learning), these plans adjust to your strengths and skills gaps — so you can skip
irrelevant topics and focus only what you need to know for your unique interview.

How it works:
• Personalized roadmap: Enter your target role, company, and interview date to
receive a custom prep plan.

• Adaptive practice: PAL adjusts your practice based on performance — if you ace
Linked Lists, you'll move on. And if you need more time to nail Dynamic Programming,
you'll get it.

• AI Mock Interviews: Test your skills with realistic mock interviews and personalized
feedback.

With a tailored plan, you can avoid wasting time on topics you've already mastered, and
reach interview readiness faster - focusing on your gaps, your strengths, and your goals.
THE COMPLETE
8-WEEK ROADMAP
This framework is ideal for new developers and students preparing to land their first
role, but it's great for established programmers who want to keep their skills sharp, too.

WEEK 1
Brush up on the basics of your chosen language
Many technical interviews start with easy questions to raise the candidate's
confidence. Don't get tripped up by something simple at the very beginning!

Your fundamentals should be automatic. You don’t waste any time during interviews
remembering how to perform basic tasks, like tokenizing a string or handling
asynchronous calls to an API.

Examples of topics to cover:

• Splitting strings
• Parsing CSV or text files
• Declaring and using 2D arrays
• Reading and writing to and from files
• Processing command line arguments
Brush up on your fundamentals
Master the basics.

WEEKS 2 AND 3
Review data structures and algorithms
Data structures and algorithms (DSA) are the core of
most high-level computer science concepts. These
concepts are essential in coding interviews. Before
diving straight into example questions, we
recommend you study up on the principles of data
structures and algorithms. If you're aiming for a
specialized role it is smart to consider what individual
concepts are the most relevant to the work you'll be
doing.

Array

Linked list

For frontend developers, that could mean studying up on trees and common
traversal approaches (relevant to DOM manipulation), as well as graphs
algorithms (relevant to component hierarchies and routing).

Tree Queue Stack

For backend developers, don’t miss hash tables (important for indexing and
caching), as well as sorting and searching algorithms (important for data retrieval
and manipulation) Regardless of your specialization, pay particular attention to Big
O notation and other practices for complexity analysis. Understanding Big O
notation helps in an intense technical interview, but it also teaches you to write
programs that are faster and more efficient across the board.

Below is a reference guide to help you keep track of different Big O complexities.

Big O cheat sheet

Algorithmic paradigms, perfected
Study every common algorithm and its use case in our hands-on course:
Mastering Algorithms for Problem Solving.

Available in Python, Java, and C++.

For a primer on data structures, start here:

WEEK 4
Practice with data structures
and algorithms
As you're reviewing the basics of data structures and
algorithms, start practicing simple problems with the
resources listed below. Reviewing the basics will help you
internalize these concepts and tackle more difficult problems
later.

7 Essential Data Structures for Coding Interviews

Master data structures

Review all the common data structures in detail with our hands-on courses, Data
Structures for Coding Interviews.

Available in Python, Java, C++, JavaScript, and C#.

To solve problems focusing on algorithms, start here:

WEEKS 5 AND 6
Test your skills with real-world
coding interview problems
By this point, you should be breezing through basic
practice problems. Now it’s time to test your skills by
getting hands-on with real-world interview questions.

Best practices:

• Time yourself. Try to solve your problem in 20 to 30 minutes, but don't be

discouraged if some questions take longer at first.

• Think about the runtime and memory complexities of your solutions.

Your interviewers will likely want you to articulate these complexities and how to
optimize them.

• Work on problems using coding interview patterns. Almost all questions for a
coding interview are built on patterns that serve as a blueprint for solving related
problems.
 Read about the 7 top patterns here
Depending on your specialization and the company where you’re interviewing, the
actual questions you get asked may vary greatly. For many general roles, you can expect
something related to algorithms and data structures, but it is impossible to say with
certainty the actual questions you'll be faced with.

As a result, the most efficient way to organize your prep isn’t to complete as many
practice problems as possible — it’s to master the coding interview patterns behind
common questions.

Drilling daily LeetCode problems may help keep your problem-solving skills sharp.
However, by internalizing the 26 core patterns that comprise nearly every technical
interview question, you will be able to prep more comprehensively, and more efficiently.

14 Must-Know Problems for Coding Interview Prep

Make coding interview patterns a habit

Learn how to solve any possible coding interview problem with our 26 essential patterns.
Our popular crash course Grokking Coding Interview Patterns is available in
Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, and Go.

For even faster prep, try our accelerated prep plan: Educative-99 (also available in
Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, and Go).

Educative-99 Cheat Sheet

WEEKS 7 AND 8
Object-Oriented Design & Behavioral Interview
The last two weeks of this plan are devoted to
studying for the other two rounds of your
interview loop:

• Design Interviews

• Behavioral Interviews

As opposed to coding interviews, which are much more technical in nature, design
interviews are all about assessing a candidate’s problem-solving,
communication, and collaboration skills.

Can you navigate tradeoffs, ask clarifying questions, and develop a resourceful solution
that satisfies the use case? Can you unpack functional and nonfunctional
requirements? Can you defend the choices you made when pressed?

Behavioral interviews are also designed to assess your soft skills. These interviews often
take into account the individual’s company’s values and leadership principles,
and are all about determining whether or not you are a good culture fit.

Let’s talk about both.

Object-Oriented Design (OOD)

OOD involves implementing specific modules or

components and their classes within a more extensive
system. We can think of OOD similarly to building the
engine of a Formula 1 race car. If the entire car is a
distributed system, then the engine's design would be
considered a low-level process within that system.
This interview plays an enormous role in determining how strong of a problem-solver
you'll be on the job.

The OOD interview will primarily measure two criteria:

• Can you design a component that successfully interacts with other components in the
system?

• Can you use design patterns to create this component efficiently?

Understanding the various design patterns of OOD should be a primary focus of your
preparation for any low-level design interview.

Understand real-world systems with OOD

Master design principles and patterns to ace the object-oriented design interview with
Grokking the Low-Level Design Interview Using OOD Principles. Learn a
bottom-up approach to break down any design problem using 20+ real-world systems
(e.g. Amazon Locker Service, StackOverflow).

Behavioral Interviews

If technical interviews gauge your programming skills, behavioral interviews attempt to

discover how you act in employment-related situations or conflicts, both positive and
negative. Behavioral interviews help an employer decide if you’re someone they want
to work with.

An interviewer may be wondering:

• Is this person calm under pressure?

• Can I rely on this person in a team?

• Will this person treat their peers with respect?

The good news is that just like with technical interviews, the behavioral interview is a
skill that can be practiced.
Here are a few tips to help your prep:

1.Familiarize yourself with common behavioral questions

Questions about your prior experience

• Hypothetical scenarios (e.g. “what would you do in [blank] situation?”)

• Values-based questions.

2. Research the company ahead of time

Take the time to learn the mission, values, and leadership principles of the
company where you are applying (they usually say on their website)
CodingInterview.com is a great resource for many top companies.

3. Take the time to practice!

• Practice the STAR method when answering questions (Situation, Task, Action, Result)

• Practice with another person

Situation
• Record yourself

Task Action

Result

Don’t underestimate the power of a strong

behavioral interview
Here’s your complete guide to behavioral and cultural interviews: Grokking the
Behavioral Interview.

It’s a completely free course that you can use to build your soft skills, just like you
would build your technical skills. You can even record a video of yourself to practice
your delivery!
 JOIN

2.6 MILLION
DEVELOPERS
LEVELING UP THEIR SKILLS
WITH EDUCATIVE

GOOD LUCK AND

HAPPY LEARNING