343 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
343 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
---
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model: claude-sonnet-4-0
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allowed-tools: Task, Read, Bash, Grep, Glob, Write
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argument-hint: <company-name-or-type> <role-title> [--research-depth=surface|comprehensive] [--focus=company|role|alignment|preparation-plan]
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description: Develop interview strategy for specific companies and roles
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---
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# Interview Strategy & Preparation Coach
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Develop a tailored strategy for your specific company and role. Understand what they're looking for, predict likely questions, and create a preparation plan.
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## Company Type Analysis
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### FAANG Scale (Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix)
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**Interview Characteristics**:
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- **Coding**: Hard algorithmic problems (LeetCode hard)
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- **System Design**: Scale of millions/billions of users
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- **Bar**: Very high; they're selective
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- **Process**: Multiple rounds (4-6 hours total)
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**Preparation Focus**:
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- Master algorithms (this is their baseline)
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- Practice hard problems daily
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- Design for massive scale (1B+ users)
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- Have stories about scale challenges
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**Typical Questions**:
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- "Design a feed system like Facebook"
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- "Design a rate limiter"
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- "Design a distributed cache"
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- "Design a URL shortener at global scale"
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**Company-Specific Notes**:
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- Google: Loves system design depth + algorithms
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- Meta: Cares about scale and rapid iteration
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- Amazon: Values customer obsession + operational excellence
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- Apple: Quality and user experience matter
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- Netflix: Cares about resilience and performance
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### High-Growth Startup (Series C/D/E)
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**Interview Characteristics**:
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- **Coding**: Practical problems (can you ship?)
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- **System Design**: Scaling from thousands to millions
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- **Bar**: Moderate-high, but more practical
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- **Process**: 2-3 rounds (2-3 hours)
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**Preparation Focus**:
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- Show you can ship quickly
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- Demonstrate adaptability
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- Have stories about scaling under pressure
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- Understand their specific problems
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**Typical Questions**:
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- "We're at 100K users, getting slow. Fix it."
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- "Design a system for our specific use case"
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- "How would you approach our biggest technical problem?"
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- "Tell me about scaling something rapidly"
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**Pre-Interview Research**:
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- Use their product
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- Read their engineering blog
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- Understand their tech stack
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- Know their current challenges (from news/Crunchbase)
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### Well-Established Tech Company (Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Oracle)
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**Interview Characteristics**:
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- **Coding**: Practical over theoretical
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- **System Design**: Real-world with constraints
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- **Bar**: Solid, but less extreme than FAANG
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- **Process**: 2-3 rounds (2-3 hours)
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**Preparation Focus**:
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- Show you understand enterprise constraints
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- Have stories about complex org navigation
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- Know their products
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- Understand their competitive position
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**Typical Questions**:
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- "Design a system for our customers"
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- "How would you approach this legacy codebase?"
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- "Tell me about working in large organizations"
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- "How do you balance innovation and stability?"
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### Early-Stage Startup (Seed/Series A/B)
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**Interview Characteristics**:
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- **Coding**: May be optional or lighter
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- **System Design**: Medium scale, specific to their needs
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- **Bar**: Moderate, emphasis on fit
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- **Process**: Casual (1-2 rounds, 1-2 hours)
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**Preparation Focus**:
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- Show genuine interest (not career move)
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- Have opinions on their technical direction
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- Demonstrate adaptability and learning
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- Understand their vision
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**Typical Questions**:
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- "Tell me about yourself"
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- "What would you work on first?"
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- "How do you think about our technical challenges?"
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- "Why do you want to join us?"
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## Role-Specific Strategy
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### IC Track (Individual Contributor)
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**What They Want**:
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- Technical contribution
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- Mentorship/multiplying impact
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- Technical leadership (without management)
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**Preparation**:
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- Coding: Solid (probably LeetCode medium+)
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- System Design: Yes (you design systems)
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- Behavioral: Focus on technical impact + mentorship
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**Sample Questions**:
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- "Design a system for this use case"
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- "Tell me about your technical expertise"
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- "How do you mentor others?"
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- "Describe a system you scaled"
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### Tech Lead Track
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**What They Want**:
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- Technical excellence + people skills
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- Can make architecture decisions
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- Can help engineers succeed
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**Preparation**:
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- Coding: Strong (you need to code still)
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- System Design: Yes (you decide architecture)
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- Behavioral: Focus on both technical + people stories
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**Sample Questions**:
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- "Tell me about a team you've led"
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- "How do you develop people?"
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- "Design this system"
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- "How do you handle technical disagreement?"
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### Manager Track
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**What They Want**:
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- Can grow people
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- Can navigate org
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- Can deliver results through others
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**Preparation**:
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- Coding: May be lighter (but not absent)
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- System Design: Lighter (you don't design systems)
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- Behavioral: Focus on people growth, retention, culture
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**Sample Questions**:
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- "Tell me about developing a person"
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- "How do you handle underperforming engineer?"
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- "Describe your team dynamics"
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- "How do you balance business and team needs?"
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## Pre-Interview Preparation Plan
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### Week 1: Company Deep-Dive
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- [ ] Use their product (spend 2+ hours)
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- [ ] Read recent press (last 6 months)
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- [ ] Study engineering blog (last 2 years)
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- [ ] Check their job postings (understand hiring)
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- [ ] Research leadership team
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- [ ] Identify 5 technical challenges they likely face
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- [ ] Understand their business model and competitors
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**Deliverable**: One-page company summary with challenges you could solve
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### Week 2: Role Alignment
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- [ ] Study job description deeply
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- [ ] List top 10 requirements
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- [ ] Map your background to each
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- [ ] Identify gaps (be prepared to address)
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- [ ] Write "why I want this role" (1-2 minutes)
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- [ ] Prepare 3-5 relevant stories
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- [ ] Generate 5-7 thoughtful questions to ask
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**Deliverable**: Interview talking points aligned to role
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### Week 3: Interview Practice
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- [ ] Practice coding (5-10 problems at their difficulty)
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- [ ] Design 2-3 systems they likely build
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- [ ] Mock interview (with friend)
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- [ ] Get feedback on communication
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- [ ] Time yourself (coding 30 min, system design 40 min)
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- [ ] Practice behavioral stories (2-3 min each)
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- [ ] Record yourself (watch for tics, clarity)
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**Deliverable**: Confidence that you can execute under pressure
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### Week 4: Mental Prep
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- [ ] Review your story bank (don't memorize, internalize)
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- [ ] Review company research (brief last look)
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- [ ] Prepare your work setup (quiet place, good internet)
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- [ ] Get good sleep night before
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- [ ] Eat healthy
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- [ ] Arrive early (5 min buffer for tech checks)
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**Deliverable**: Calm, prepared mindset
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## Question Prediction by Company Type
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### FAANG Typical Questions
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- "Design a feed system"
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- "Design a cache"
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- "Design a rate limiter"
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- "Design a distributed storage system"
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- "How would you monitor this?"
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- "Tell me about your biggest technical contribution"
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- "How do you handle disagreement?"
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### Startup Typical Questions
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- "Design an analytics system"
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- "We're at X scale, it's slow. How do you solve it?"
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- "Design a system for our specific need"
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- "Tell me about rapid scaling"
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- "How would you improve our tech?"
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- "What would you work on first?"
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### Enterprise Typical Questions
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- "Design a system for our customers"
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- "How would you approach this legacy system?"
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- "Tell me about working in large orgs"
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- "How do you balance innovation and stability?"
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- "Describe a complex project"
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- "How do you influence across teams?"
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## Positioning Your Background
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### The Alignment Formula
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For each major requirement in the job:
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**Step 1**: Identify the requirement
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"They need someone who can [X]"
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**Step 2**: Show you have it
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"At [company], I [did similar work]"
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**Step 3**: Make it specific
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"Here's an example: [concrete project]"
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**Step 4**: Quantify the impact
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"The result was [metric/outcome]"
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### Example Alignments
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**Requirement**: "Experience scaling systems"
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**Your background**: "I scaled our database from 100K to 10M QPS"
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**In interview**: "That required [challenges], which is why I approach scaling by [methodology]"
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**Requirement**: "Technical leadership"
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**Your background**: "I led architecture decisions across 3 teams"
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**In interview**: "I did this by [approach], which shows [capability]"
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**Requirement**: "Infrastructure expertise"
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**Your background**: "I designed our microservices infrastructure from scratch"
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**In interview**: "The lessons I learned were [insights]"
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## Your "Why" Story (2 minutes)
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Prepare to answer: "Why are you interested in this role?"
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**Structure**:
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```
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1. What excites you about what they're building
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2. Specific technical problem you want to solve
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3. How your background prepares you
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4. What's next for you
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```
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**Example**:
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```
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"I'm interested because:
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1. You're solving distributed systems at scale—that's exciting
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2. Specifically, I want to dive deep into distributed consensus—I've done similar work
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3. My background in systems design means I can contribute immediately
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4. I'm looking to go deeper on distributed systems, which this role offers
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"
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```
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## Red Flags & How to Address
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### If you're worried...
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**Concern**: "I don't have exact experience in [X]"
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**Strategy**: "I have deep experience in [related skill], which transfers to [X]"
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**Concern**: "I haven't worked at a company their size"
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**Strategy**: "I've scaled [system/team] from [small] to [large], showing I can grow"
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**Concern**: "I'm coming from a different tech stack"
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**Strategy**: "I learn new tech quickly. Here's my approach to learning: [methodology]"
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**Concern**: "I'm transitioning roles (IC→Lead, etc.)"
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**Strategy**: "I've been preparing by [evidence], and I'm excited about [new domain]"
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## Interview Day
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### Night Before
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- Get good sleep (matters more than extra studying)
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- Light review of company facts
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- Prepare your work space
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### Morning Of
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- Healthy breakfast
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- Review your "why" story and key talking points
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- Get to call 5 minutes early
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### During
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- Take your time (silence while thinking is OK)
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- Ask clarifying questions
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- Think out loud
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- Show genuine curiosity
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- Be yourself
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### After
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- Thank you email within 24 hours
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- Reference something specific from conversation
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- Reiterate genuine interest
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- Keep it brief (don't oversell)
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## Success Metrics
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You're well-prepared when:
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- ✓ Can discuss their company/problems intelligently
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- ✓ Have relevant stories for their role requirements
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- ✓ Can solve coding problems at their difficulty
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- ✓ Can design systems for their scale
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- ✓ Can articulate why this role matters to you
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- ✓ Have thoughtful questions to ask them
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- ✓ Feel confident about your background/experience
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You nailed the strategy when they seem interested in YOU specifically, not just looking for "anyone who can code."
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