Problem Library
Seven rounds that intern and new-grad loops ask and that grinding problems does not prepare you for. Each ends in a scored report and uses one session. If you close the tab part-way through one, it is still there when you come back.
Not sure what you would talk about? The story builder turns a class project, a club or a hackathon into answers you can use here, and the resume grader scores the resume these rounds are built from.
Talking rounds
Resume grill
Every line of your resume, questioned until it holds or it does not: how each number was measured, what you did yourself, and whether you can use the skills you list. Ends with the lines that did not hold.
Scored on backing up your claims, explaining your numbers, the skills you listed, your own part, technical depth, honest under pressure.
StartOpeners and closers
“Tell me about yourself.” “Why this role?” “What questions do you have for me?” Every interview has them and almost nobody rehearses them out loud. No code.
Scored on tell me about yourself, tied to the role, specifics, why this role, your questions, length.
StartOne-way recorded interview
No interviewer: a question appears, you get 30 seconds to think and 2 and a half minutes to answer. 3 questions, no follow-ups, no second takes. Out loud or typed.
Scored on structure unprompted, specifics, answered the question, use of the time, delivery.
StartProject deep-dive
“Tell me about this project.” The interviewer picks one from your resume, or one you paste, and keeps asking: what you built yourself, how it works underneath, why you chose it, what came of it.
Scored on explaining the project, your own contribution, technical depth, decisions & trade-offs, results, what you would change.
StartObject-oriented design
Ask what the system has to do, name the classes and what each is responsible for, write the core ones, then take a change in requirements. New-grad loops at Amazon, Microsoft and Bloomberg ask this where a senior loop would ask distributed systems. Python, Java, C++, TypeScript or C#. Scored on requirements, classes & responsibilities, relationships & interfaces, code matches design, handling change, communication.
Parking lot
easySpots of different sizes, vehicles of different sizes, and a ticket that turns into a fee.
Vending machine
easyCoins in, a selection, a product and change out. The states are the design.
Library lending system
easyBooks, copies, members and loans. The trap is treating a book and a copy as one thing.
Deck of cards and blackjack
mediumA reusable deck first, then one game on top of it without the game leaking into the deck.
Your own hash map
mediumA class with a contract, private state and one hard invariant to protect during resize.
Elevator system
hardSeveral cars, two kinds of request and a scheduling rule that has to be swappable.
Fundamentals, out loud
Short questions on one topic, answered in a few sentences each: the “what is the difference between a process and a thread” kind. The interviewer does not tell you whether you were right; the report does. The questions are drawn fresh each time. Scored on correct, depth, precise terms, knowing your limits, short and direct.
Data structures
Arrays, hash maps, heaps and trees: what each costs and when you would reach for it.
Operating systems
Processes, threads, memory and what goes wrong when two things run at once.
Networking and the web
What happens between typing a URL and seeing a page, and the protocols underneath.
Databases
Indexes, transactions and joins: the questions that follow "have you used SQL?"
Object-oriented programming
The four words everyone lists, and whether you can say what each is for.
How your language works
Memory, references, equality and typing. Asked about whichever language is on your resume.
Phone screen
A coding problem run the way a first technical call runs: a couple of minutes of introductions, the problem, a follow-up if you finish early, and the last five minutes for your questions. Same editor, tests and scoring as a coding round.