Technical Interview Preparation Roadmap

Complete guide to cracking interviews at FAANG and top tech companies based on experiences from CC Club alumni.

Interview Process Overview

Typical tech interview pipeline:

1. Resume Screening
2. Online Assessment (Coding test)
3. Phone Screen (1-2 rounds)
4. Onsite/Virtual (4-5 rounds)
   • DSA rounds
   • System Design
   • Behavioral
   • Specialty (if applicable)

Phase 1: Foundation (6-8 weeks)

Data Structures & Algorithms

Must-know topics:

• Arrays & Strings
• Linked Lists
• Stacks & Queues
• Trees & Graphs
• Hash Tables
• Heaps
• Sorting & Searching

Problem Count: 150-200 problems

Resources:

• 💻 LeetCode Easy → Medium
• 📚 "Cracking the Coding Interview"
• 🎥 NeetCode YouTube

Practice Strategy

• Week 1-2: Arrays, Strings (30 problems)
• Week 3-4: Linked Lists, Stacks, Queues (30 problems)
• Week 5-6: Trees, Graphs (40 problems)
• Week 7-8: DP, Greedy (50 problems)

Phase 2: Problem Solving Patterns (4-6 weeks)

Common Patterns

1. Two Pointers
2. Sliding Window
3. Binary Search
4. DFS/BFS
5. Dynamic Programming
6. Backtracking
7. Greedy

Practice Routine

• Daily: 2-3 problems
• Weekly: 1 mock interview
• Monthly: Company-specific practice

Target: 300+ total problems

Phase 3: System Design (4-6 weeks)

Fundamentals

• Scalability concepts
• Load balancing
• Caching strategies
• Database design (SQL vs NoSQL)
• Microservices
• Message queues
• CDNs

Common Questions

• Design Twitter
• Design URL Shortener
• Design Instagram
• Design Uber
• Design WhatsApp
• Design YouTube

Resources:

• 📚 "System Design Interview" by Alex Xu
• 🎥 Gaurav Sen YouTube
• 💻 SystemDesignPrimer (GitHub)

Practice

• Read 10+ system design case studies
• Design 20+ systems
• Mock interviews with peers

Phase 4: Behavioral Interviews (2-3 weeks)

STAR Method

Situation → Task → Action → Result

Common Questions

• Tell me about yourself
• Why this company?
• Biggest achievement
• Handling conflict
• Failed project
• Leadership experience
• Technical challenges

Preparation

• Prepare 5-7 STAR stories
• Research company values
• Ask thoughtful questions

Phase 5: Mock Interviews (Ongoing)

Platforms

• Pramp (free peer interviews)
• interviewing.io
• LeetCode Mock
• CC Club Mock Drives

Practice Schedule

• 2 weeks before: Daily mocks
• 1 week before: Company-specific
• Day before: Light practice

Company-Specific Prep

Google

• Focus: Algorithms, scalability
• LeetCode: Medium-Hard
• System Design: Distributed systems

Amazon

• Focus: Leadership principles
• Behavioral: STAR stories for 14 principles
• Coding: Medium level

Microsoft

• Focus: Balanced (DSA + Design)
• OOD questions common
• Culture fit important

Startups

• Focus: Practical skills
• Take-home assignments
• Product thinking

Resume Optimization

Structure

1. Education (GPA if >8.0)
2. Experience/Internships
3. Projects (3-4 strong ones)
4. Skills
5. Achievements

Tips

• Quantify impact (Improved X by Y%)
• Use action verbs
• Highlight tech stack
• Keep to 1 page
• ATS-friendly format

Get resume reviewed by CC Club alumni

Interview Day Checklist

Before Interview

• ✅ Test setup (camera, mic, internet)
• ✅ Have pen and paper ready
• ✅ Close all apps
• ✅ Be in quiet room
• ✅ Join 5 mins early

During Interview

• ✅ Think out loud
• ✅ Ask clarifying questions
• ✅ Discuss trade-offs
• ✅ Test your code
• ✅ Handle hints gracefully

After Interview

• ✅ Send thank you email
• ✅ Note down questions asked
• ✅ Analyze performance
• ✅ Follow up if promised

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Jumping into coding without clarifying ❌ Not considering edge cases ❌ Poor communication ❌ Giving up too easily ❌ Not asking questions to interviewer ❌ Bad mouthing previous employer ❌ Lying about skills

Resources Compilation

Coding Practice

• LeetCode (Premium recommended)
• HackerRank
• CodeForces
• InterviewBit

System Design

• System Design Primer (GitHub)
• Grokking System Design
• High Scalability Blog

Books

• 📘 Cracking the Coding Interview
• 📘 Elements of Programming Interviews
• 📘 System Design Interview Vol 1 & 2

YouTube Channels

• NeetCode
• Tech Dummies Narendra L
• Gaurav Sen
• Back to Back SWE

Success Timeline

Month 1-2: DSA Fundamentals (150 problems) Month 3: Pattern practice (100 problems) Month 4: System Design + Advanced DSA Month 5: Mocks + Behavioral prep Month 6: Company applications + Interviews

CC Club Resources

• Weekly Mock Interviews
• Alumni Mentorship (FAANG employees)
• Interview Experiences (Database)
• Referrals (Internal program)
• Study Groups

Join our interview prep track and get your dream job! 🎯