Discussion 4A:

Mock Interview Demos��

Visit at dsa.deguzman.cloud/week6

Project 1 - Getting Started

• A few TAs have made a presentation on getting started with the project!
• Project 1 Breakdown by Jackie
• https://youtu.be/o8eavL8SZLY?si=tbupfxtREZ-UCGgv
• Sides for the presentation
• https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1llw2u6PmbgUjE1nQM_Qyc4lVMeb84_UVINRpQvrycqE/edit#slide=id.p
• Catch2 Tutorials
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqE3UpOdBLw (CLion)
• https://youtu.be/yj8baGjXmTU (VS Code)

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Resume Tips

• Name & Contact information (ex: Email, Phone number, LinkedIn URL [you can make a custom short URL])
• Education goes first
• Put month/year of graduation!!
• Put GPA if it’s notable
• Don’t put your high school after your first year of college
• Relevant coursework (DSA is a big one)
• Work experience
• If you don’t have prior internship experience, TAing and projects look really good
• Always put volunteer / service work even if it’s not technical
• Really important to have dates and timelines
• Use action verbs, metrics, and keywords (ex: Reduced data query times by 67% by refactoring REST API in Express.js)
• Projects
• Looks really good if you link to GitHub / web app / blog post
• Can go to hackathons if you need projects
• Skills
• Programming Languages, technologies
• Certifications/Awards (optional)
• Dean’s List, Hackathon winner, etc.

Here's a link to sample Resume Template

Resume Tips

Name & Contact info

(ex: Email, Phone number, LinkedIn URL [you can make a custom short URL])

Technical Skills:

• Mention these tech tools/skills in experience/projects

Education!!! goes first

• month/year of graduation
• put GPA
• no high school after first year of college
• relevant coursework
• DSA !!!

Resume Tips

Experience - gas urself up.

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Highlight technical positions!

• Internships
• Research
• TA / Mentorships
• Fellowships
• Programs/Bootcamps
• Leadership Roles

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Use action verbs, metrics, and keywords!

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ex: Reduced data query times by 67% by refactoring REST API in Express.js

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Projects

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personal/school projects, hackathons, bootcamps, etc.

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omg DSA project 3 !

Involvement

Even if you don’t have a leadership position

Put dates!

Check it out at

static.deguzman.cloud/resume.pdf

UPenn action verbs

https://cdn.uconnectlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/74/2022/08/Resume-Action-Verbs-2.pdf

DeGuzman Certified Tip 1

• Projects will make or break your resume

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• Make them unique

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• Make products your passionate about/people will use

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DeGuzman Certified Tip 2

• You don’t need to know every technology to be hireable

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• A very brief list of technologies I recommend learning are:
• React (front-end)
• Golang (back-end)
• Docker (dev-ops)

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DeGuzman Certified Tip 3

• Focus on being hireable before grinding leetcode

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• Once you have a decent resume:
• Neetcode 150
• Leetcode Top 150
• Do it with friends!

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Discussion Activity

Critique this sample resume for the next 3 minutes and see what can be improved !

• How’s the formatting?
• Does it use action verbs?
• How’s the order of info?
• Easy to read?
• Consistent?

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thx matthew for ur website + qr code maker :D

Behavioral Mock!

Pick 2 questions for mock:

• Tell me about yourself. (Elevator pitch ;) )
• What was your favorite project you’ve completed?
• What would you say is your biggest weakness?
• Why do you want to work for ______ company?

Recommendation: Use STAR Technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result)

DeGuzman Certified Tip 4

• Practice being a normal person!

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• They may ask about your resume as well, be familiar with your projects

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• Questions I always prepare for:
• “Why <x> company?”
• “Why did you choose computer science”

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Technical Interviews - What is it like?

1. Research company’s interview process
1. Multiple rounds for behavioral/technical:

Online assessment -> phone screen -> technical interview(s) -> HM (hiring manager) final round

• Ask others what their interview process is like:
• Glassdoor
• Reddit
• Club slacks/discord: ACM, SEC, WICSE, etc.
• Leetcode Premium (get company specific questions)

DeGuzman Certified Tip 5

• It’s normal to be nervous!

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• Choose a “hype” song to listen to before your interviews

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• Songs I have listened to before passing interviews:
• Can you hear the music - Ludwig Goransson
• Kammy (like i do) - Fred again…
• Still Sleepless (Ekko & Sidetrack Remix) - DOD & Carla Monroe

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Technical Question Flowchart

1. Listen to the question
2. Example, give test cases
1. Ask questions, clarify bounds
3. Brute Force
• Is there a data structure that can solve this problem?
4. Optimize (BUD Optimization)
• Bottlenecks, Unnecessary Work, Duplicated Work
5. Walk Through / Review
6. Implement
7. Test

Source: Cracking the Coding Interview 6th edition p.62

Technical Question Flowchart - REACTO

R - Repeat the question

E - Give Examples

• Test cases
• Ask questions
• Clarify bounds

A - Explain your Action

• Pseudocode thought process !
• Ask for feedback
• Start with brute force
• Then offer better solutions if possible

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C - Code

• Always communicate with interviewer !!!
• Walkthrough code when done

T - Test your code

O - Optimize

• Better solution may have come up after working through problem

REACTO - more in depth

Pls watch on ur own time, too long to play in discussion.

https://youtu.be/DIR_rxusO8Q?si=RrlF7qTdfM-E9c61

LeetCode （＾ω＾）

• LeetCode
• 3 difficulties: Easy, Medium, Hard
• Premium: company-tagged questions (or for free if you google it)
• Will become your worst enemy or best friend, either is okay
• List of good LC questions by category
• Blind 75
• Neetcode 150, accompanying YT channel
• Suggested LC workflow
• Consistencyyyyy
• Try to understand the problem and sketch solution before coding
• Talk out loud while you code!

LeetCode Problem

• https://leetcode.com/problems/kth-smallest-element-in-a-bst/description/

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LeetCode Problem

• https://leetcode.com/problems/merge-two-sorted-lists/

REALLY GREAT RESOURCES !!!

• Pitt CS Internships - Massive list of internships for current cycle
• Legit search up “Pitt CS Internships” and it’s the first github link�https://github.com/SimplifyJobs/Summer2025-Internships
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• LinkedIn
• Mark Benliyan posts internships / new grad roles right when they open�https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbenliyan/
• Look at people at other companies to see what opportunities they got
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• Pramp - free online mock tech interviews
• Do mock interviews with other SWEs / PMs who are also looking to practice�https://www.pramp.com/#/

Gas yourself up. Do it scared. You got this.

DeGuzman Certified Tip 6

• Take a break! This shit is stressful

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• It’s good to “lock in” but don’t drive yourself crazy

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• Things I do to relax:
• Cook (food.matthewdeguzman.info)
• Go out (midtown & house parties)
• Poker

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Questions?

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