Hello Folks,
Neither I am going to tell you how many Leet code problems I solved nor how many stars I have in codechef/codeforce, cause I don't have any of them. I didn't do competitive coding as well. Neither I am any talented prodigy. Then how did I crack all 6 rounds DSA+System Design rounds in Microsoft ? Did I got lucky ? Let's find out.
For the first 2yrs of My career as a Software Engineer at TCS, I had no drive, no curiosity, nothing at all. Didn't like my job. But I liked what I was doing, I enjoyed coding, it never felt boring to me. Every time, I used to write some solutions, I would revisit my own code after some time, refactor it, again scratch & redo it. I used to do the same job multiple times. Yes, I was reworking...but I guess I was challenging myself with "Can I do even better?" This became a habit & I still do that. ReWork...ReFactor...ReDo
Now when I look back, I think I was preparing myself "To think multiple ways to crack a single problem", which helped me in my interview.
After 3 & a half yrs. at TCS, I decided to switch my job. The job search results were traumatic. It wasn't as convenient as it is today, click apply & join a zoom call. It used to be 3hrs travel just to attend the interview & within 10minutes I was getting rejected in most of them. I got rejected by all the MNCs & I had offers only from startups. I kind of doubted my abilities TBH. However, later I learnt "I wasn't good enough for MNCs, neither they were suitable enough for the kind of environment & exposure I needed. But yes, they were amazing companies with solid products."
I joined this new startup & it was a completely different environment. My way of thinking from product side, working, writing code everything changed & the credit goes to the team. I won't say startups are always better or MNCs are always worse, it differs from person to person & time to time. At that point of time, I was at the right place, with the right team. My productivity was at the peak & I realized; I can do even more.
I started working as voluntary coder for other startups (without pay) bcz I wanted to learn more, be more, create more. I didn't know what to do, so blindly I was working on anything & everything that I can get my hands on. After office everyday 2-3hrs I used to code. It was hectic, tiring but it was giving me mental satisfaction. My friends used to ask me "Dude what you will get out of this? ". I knew they were right; I wasn't even getting money for all the work I was doing but sitting idle was tough for me. I was not sure what I wanted, but I was sure, I wasn't satisfied with just that.
During Covid, I was working on 3 different products, all in different languages including my fulltime job. After this point, I never worked at just one job or just one product. Now I know, I was preparing myself for something more, UNKNOWINGLY!!!
After some time, I joined a new place, this time it was a product based MNC, again completely different than the previous one. Technology, culture, team & everything was new, but I worked hard, made mistakes & learnt faster. There, I learnt estimation, sprint planning, product strategy & how to represent yourself at work, how to manage time. In my entire span there, I had a record of "Never spilling over a task that was given". I wasn't the best resource, but I tried to be better, faster than the last time. *Never stopped Rewriting/Refactoring the same code. *
My company was using Microsoft products, so we had few Microsoft Developers with us as consultants & I remember, I was telling myself, "Wow it's an opportunity to even work with them, I would learn so much from them etc. etc..." One day, suddenly I got a mail from Microsoft & I was telling myself, "Obviously, I won't be able to crack". But thank God, I didn't self-reject myself. I wrote the test & all subsequent rounds were cleared. I am not going to write the interview exp cause, there are many available on internet
I remember the day I got the final result from Microsoft; I questioned myself; How did I even clear this? No Leet code, no DSA practice, how it happened? Truth is, while rewriting the solutions, working at multiple different languages, products at the same time my thought process, problem-solving skills got better & better day by day. 2yrs of cluelessness +5yrs of ReWrite+Refinement+ReWork+Curiosity got me where I am today or where I will be in future.
My take for everyone & anyone would be "Focus on anything that you're working right now! Think how you can write more performant solution, better quality, better in every way & don't hesitate to rework, rewrite. That's your Leet code."
Thanks for reading my post. Hope it will help at least someone. Connect with me on twitter for any queries/collaborations/pair programming/meetups/anything & don't shy to Say Hi!!
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