Experience with formation dev

Im no expert but I think interviewing.io might be a better deal. Havent used formation or interviewing.io but interviewing.io has dedicated coaching packages for big tech companies and I hear great things. U get assigned a 1-on-1 mentor who will coach you to crack interviews. In either case definitely dont spend money until you get the interviews. In this market getting big tech as a junior is hard (they're not hiring any juniors tbh) and most openings are for atleast mid level.

I put a few thoughts here!

• Formation.dev - recommended? Any tips or thoughts on it?
• Interview Kickstart or formation.dev?

Formation.dev is founded by a bunch of ex-Meta people, so I automatically trust it more than others. (and I've enjoyed talking to several members of their founding team)

We have several people in Taro who have gone through it so let me ask them to share their opinion here!

In my experience, LeetCode and exchanging mock interviews is enough for DS&A interviews. You can also find many DS&A mocks on Youtube. System Design is more complex, has less straightforward answers, and it's harder to find mocks on Youtube. It could be worth it to buy a paid service for System Design mock interviews, depending on the price.

I don't trust any bootcamp to teach software engineering. Even university was not useful for that. It simply takes way more time than a bootcamp can give.

I used to use interviewing.io for DS&A when it was cheaper, but in retrospect I didn't need it. Discipline for doing LeetCode problems is more useful. It's actually surprisingly difficult to do a single LeetCode problem daily. I would be at 1,000+ problems if I did a daily LeetCode problem.

Interview preparation is mostly about dedication and time. I am certain that if anyone did 1,000 LeetCode problems, they would be ready for DS&A interviews. There is a similar story for System Design. Few of us actually have that kind of mental capacity though.

So Formation.dev is one of the better interview bootcamps out there. They have results, and the founders are legit. However, their results have definitely dwindled in this market, especially among junior engineers.

Personally, I don't think Formation.dev is worth it right now, especially if you already have Taro on your side. Formation.dev is extremely expensive (around $5,000), because selling the time of talented humans directly is very hard to scale. In this economy, just getting the interview is much harder, and that's not something Formation.dev is uniquely qualified to do (optimizing a resume is really not that hard).

At the end of the day though, it's your call. If you can't buckle down and do a LeetCode problem to save your life (and you can't find an accountability partner here in Taro or elsewhere), then Formation.dev can be worth it. With these programs, you aren't paying for the advice (that's already online, including in Taro), you are paying for the people who force you to a follow a regimen. It's sort of like a group of career parents.

InterviewKickstart and Formation are not miracle cures: If they were and could guarantee a Big Tech placement, they would cost $50,000 (that's less than the raise I got when I broke into FAANG), not $5,000.

Regardless of your choice, I highly recommend our job searching course if you haven't gone through it already: [Course] Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer