Round: Full Journey · Type: Coding · Difficulty: 7/10 · Duration: 120 min · Interviewer: Unfriendly
Topics: Algorithms, Data Structures, Problem Solving, Sliding Window, Hash Sets, Dictionaries
Location: Los Gatos, CA
Interview date: 2026-01-19
Got offer: False
Summary
Round 1: Technical Problem Solving (TPS)
Question: Deduplication of titles across shelves on the Netflix home page, considering a viewport limit. I struggled with clarifying the requirements, leading to multiple incorrect versions.
Round 2: Coding
Question: Two coding problems: (1) finding the maximum consecutive streak of the same show, and (2) finding the longest consecutive unique sub-array. I solved the first quickly but the second was not as clean as it could have been under pressure.
Details
Preparation Tips & Key Takeaways
What I Learned
I need to improve my communication and clarification skills, especially using example-oriented clarification to avoid misunderstandings.
Under pressure, I prioritized correctness over elegance, which led to less clean code. I should aim to present multiple solutions, even if it takes a bit longer.
Recommended Preparation
Coding Practice
Practice sliding window problems.
Focus on writing clean and concise code under pressure.
Communication
Practice clarifying ambiguous requirements by providing concrete examples and counterexamples.
Verbalize my thought process and potential solution branches.
Resources I Recommend
LeetCode and other coding platforms for practicing coding problems.
Mock interviews to simulate the pressure of a real interview and improve communication skills.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Not clarifying requirements thoroughly before starting to code.
Prioritizing correctness over code quality under pressure.
Not presenting alternative solutions or discussing trade-offs.