Software Engineer Interview Roadmap

The 3 Pillars of SWE Interviews

Every software engineer interview tests these three areas in some combination:

• DSA / Coding: Solve algorithmic problems under time pressure (most common at product companies)
• System Design: Design scalable systems — expected from candidates with 2+ years of experience
• Behavioural: Leadership, teamwork, failure stories using STAR — at every level

Weeks 1–4: DSA Foundation

Build your fundamentals before solving complex problems:

• Week 1: Arrays, strings, hash maps — the most common interview topics
• Week 2: Recursion, stack, queue, linked lists
• Week 3: Trees (BFS, DFS), binary search
• Week 4: Sorting algorithms, dynamic programming basics
• Daily practice: 2–3 LeetCode problems. Focus on understanding patterns, not memorising solutions
• Resources: NeetCode150 list, Blind 75, LeetCode company tags

Weeks 5–8: Intermediate DSA + System Design Intro

Now solve harder problems and start building system design knowledge:

• Weeks 5–6: Graphs (BFS/DFS on grids), dynamic programming (DP), backtracking
• Weeks 7–8: Heaps, tries, sliding window, two pointers
• System design intro: Watch Gaurav Sen's YouTube series. Read Alex Xu's book.
• Practice 2 classic system design problems per week (URL shortener, Twitter, etc.)

Weeks 9–10: Mock Interviews

This is the most underused phase — and the most important:

• Do 10+ timed mock interviews on Pramp, Interviewing.io, or with a peer
• Practice communicating your approach before coding — interviewers evaluate your thinking
• Record yourself and identify: do you rush? Do you mumble? Do you explain poorly?
• Use SpeakWell AI to practice the behavioural round with real-time scoring
• Get feedback after every mock interview and target specific weaknesses

Weeks 11–12: Company-Specific Preparation

The final sprint — tailor your preparation for your target companies:

• Check Glassdoor and AmbitionBox for real questions from those companies
• Review the company's tech blog and understand their tech stack
• LeetCode company tags: solve the top 30 questions tagged for your target company
• Prepare company-specific 'Why this company?' answers
• Review all your STAR stories and practise with the role and company in mind
• Get a referral if possible — increases callback rate by 4–6×

Offer Negotiation: Don't Leave Money on the Table

Most engineers accept the first offer and lose ₹5–20 lakh per year:

• Research compensation on Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn Salary
• Always negotiate — 78% of employers expect it and the success rate is high
• Negotiate total comp: base + ESOPs + joining bonus + signing bonus
• You can say: 'I have another offer at X. Can you match/exceed that?'
• If they won't move on base: negotiate for more ESOPs, remote flexibility, or joining bonus

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Expert Tips

Frequently Asked Questions