1. LeetCode-style Coding Interview

This is the classic part – you get a problem similar to the ones you’d find on LeetCode, and you need to solve it in real-time. It’s all about data structures and algorithms like:

• Arrays, Linked Lists, Hash Maps
• Stacks, Queues, Trees, Graphs
• Recursion and Dynamic Programming

They want to see how you approach the problem, how you talk through your thinking, and if your solution is both correct and efficient. It’s not just about getting the right answer – it’s how you get there that matters.

1. General Coding Interview

This one focuses more on your code style, structure, and clean thinking. You’ll probably need to write a full function – including input, output, variable names, everything. They might not just give you a short algorithm, but something more like a real-world scenario or a coding task with multiple parts. Things like:

• Explaining the function signature
• Thinking about edge cases
• Following naming conventions
• Maybe even using some basic design patterns

It’s your chance to show that you can write production-quality code.

1. System Thinking / Real-Life Problem Interview

This one was actually kind of fun – it’s more like a story-based question. For example, in the guide they used a voting system where students had to choose a restaurant after their exams.

There were all these twists like: some students want weighted votes, some want veto rights, others want to vote for multiple options.

So the interviewer is basically testing how you think, how you deal with changing requirements, and whether you can turn a messy real-world situation into a clear algorithm or system.

My takeaways?

• Practice LeetCode a lot, especially arrays, trees, and DP.
• When solving problems, don’t just code – explain your thought process clearly.
• Try solving “messy” real-world problems where the requirements change – it helps with those open-ended interviews.

They gave me a LeetCode-style problem and asked me to explain my thought process while coding.