Mastering the Software Engineering Interview

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-tech-interview

Introduction

### Course Review: Mastering the Software Engineering Interview on Coursera As a burgeoning computer scientist, you've likely mastered the foundational skills of problem-solving, algorithmic thinking, and leveraging essential data structures. However, when it comes to securing that coveted internship or entry-level software engineering position, the real challenge often lies in navigating the interview process effectively. Enter "Mastering the Software Engineering Interview," an invaluable course offered on Coursera that equips you with the techniques and confidence needed to excel under pressure. #### Course Overview This course ambitiously tackles the dual challenges of excelling in a technical interview and succeeding thereafter in a technical role. The instructors understand that it's not just about having the requisite technical knowledge; it's equally vital to be able to communicate that knowledge clearly and persuasively. The course provides practical guidance on how to solve technical problems while also honing your communication skills—elements that are crucial not only during interviews but throughout your career. #### Syllabus Breakdown The course is structured into several thoughtfully-designed modules, each focusing on critical aspects of the interview process: 1. **Welcome & What is a Software Engineering Interview?** - This introductory module emphasizes the significance of effectively communicating your technical abilities. You will gain insights into what makes a good candidate and the importance of demonstrating both hard and soft skills during interviews. 2. **Live Coding: The Technical Phone Interview and Beyond** - Here, you will dive into the practical side of coding interviews. The course provides essential tips and practice opportunities for writing code in real-time, a common expectation in technical interviews, which many find daunting. This segment will prepare you to face live coding challenges with confidence. 3. **Explaining What You've Already Done** - You will learn to articulate your past experiences in a compelling manner using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Results) model. This module focuses on presenting your work clearly and effectively, giving you the tools to leave a lasting impression on your interviewers. The peer review element of this module encourages active engagement and feedback from your cohort. 4. **Algorithmic Thinking on the Fly** - The final module challenges you to tackle algorithmic problems common in interviews. Through a structured 6-step approach, this segment emphasizes the importance of breaking down complex problems and fostering a growth mindset. The practice assessments ensure you can apply what you’ve learned and build your problem-solving skills further. #### Why You Should Take This Course - **Comprehensive Coverage**: This course doesn’t simply prepare you for the interview; it lays the foundation for long-term success in your programming career by fostering both technical and soft skills. - **Expert Guidance**: The course is led by experienced instructors who provide real-world insights into what tech companies look for during interviews. - **Hands-On Practice**: With exercises, peer reviews, and structured assessments, you will have ample opportunity to practice and refine your skills. The emphasis on live coding and interviewing techniques prepares you for the real-world scenarios you will face. - **Community Learning**: The peer feedback system encourages engagement and can provide diverse perspectives that enrich your learning experience. #### Conclusion "Mastering the Software Engineering Interview" on Coursera is more than just a course; it’s a crucial step in your professional journey as a software engineer. By taking this course, you will empower yourself with the skills necessary to articulate your abilities confidently, tackle difficult algorithms, and effectively communicate your value to potential employers. If you are preparing for internships or entry-level jobs in tech, this course is highly recommended. Sign up today, and take the first step towards acing your software engineering interviews with poise and confidence!

Syllabus

Welcome & What is a Software Engineering Interview?

Welcome to our course on effectively communicating your technical abilities. This course focuses on landing a technical job and excelling in a technical role. To succeed in job interviews, you’ll need to be able to confidently articulate your ability to solve challenging problems and come up with new solutions under potentially stressful conditions. After getting a technical job, the role of communication increases even more. You’ll need to work with other members of the team, communicate technical challenges and successes, and potentially sell the value of your work to those outside the company. Our goal is that by the end of this course each and every one of you understands the importance of technical communication, and has received constructive feedback on areas of potential improvement. In achieving this goal you will also learn about algorithmic thinking on the fly, how to evaluate a good interview answer to a difficult technical problem, and how “soft” skills impact interview outcomes. In this module, we’ll begin to see what a technical interview looks like, from the perspective of a major tech company. We’ll then focus on how to best get the interview in the first place. If you're not in the job market right now, you might want to skim the videos in this module and skip ahead to the Resume Critique (for insights about how to present yourself in writing) or the Introductions assignment (on effectively presenting yourself in person).

Now that you’ve gotten warmed up, it’s time to practice your coding skills. One of the things you’ll almost certainly be asked to do during a technical phone interview is to code up a solution to a problem in a shared text document (e.g. Google doc) while you are on the phone with the interviewer. This experience can be intimidating, unfamiliar and humbling if you are not prepared, so this week we will give you lots of practice and tips for getting through this part of the interview with flying colors.

This week, we’re going to focus on how to speak about your experiences working on projects and how to speak about the technical problems you’ve experienced and how you’ve solved those problems. We’ll introduce the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Results) model for presenting your work, and discuss how to and how not to present the problem you worked on and the solution you developed. We’ll also discuss the communication skills that are critical to this task. It’s a fun week with lots of examples (both good and bad), which ends with an assignment where you will present your own work on video and submit this video for peer review.

As we saw in week 2, coding on the fly can be a difficult task! In this final week of the course we’ll revisit the skill of live problem solving by looking at how to solve more challenging algorithmic problems (and write the code associated with the solution) on the whiteboard. You’ll recognize these problems as “classic” interview problems you’ve probably heard a lot about, designed to test your problem solving skills as well as your analysis and coding abilities. Don’t worry, we’ll teach you how to approach them with confidence through a 6-step process to addressing technical questions (hint: you don’t have to produce the perfect solution on the first try!). We’ll show you how to use this process in a number of examples. But of course, there is no substitute for practice, so we’ll set you up with how to train and evaluate yourself.