yosoynatebrown · February 26, 2022 00:54
diff --git a/Technical Challenge Reflections b/Technical Challenge Reflections
 Day 1:

 What worked well in your process?

 I started simple, with a brute force solution. I think it can hurt to get too ambitious at the beginning of a technical challenge.
 What was difficult/where did you struggle?

 I had an idea for implementing binary search since I knew the arrays were sorted, but never finished it.

 What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

 We discussed our solutions. I had totally forgotten about the & operator in Ruby, which checks for intersection. A little disconcerting that others got it in a single line, but I assume an interviewer would ask for something more involved after you were done with that.

 Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

 Google more. Stick with it a little longer (I admittedly stopped at 40 minutes when I was stuck on the binary search idea).

 Day 2:

 What worked well in your process?

 I stayed calm, recognized that this was a very hard problem, and got to a semi-working solution in the end.

 What was difficult/where did you struggle?

 The sticking point that they expected the *first* set of menu items that matched the criteria, not just any set. I didn't make any progress until I decided to see what I could try it without satisfying that rule.

 What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

 Mostly everyone was stumped. Like I said my solution semi-worked (didn't return the items in order however), but I used a lot of the `rand` method and hard coded the max number of menu items (meaning anything larger than 75.00 most likely would have gotten stuck in a while loop).

 Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

 Make sure I figure out an MVP for my tech challenge first before trying to solve everything at once.


 If this isn’t your first technical challenge:

 Were you able to improve your approach? What went better?

 Yes, I did stick with this challenge (maybe-possibly went over time/worked on it the next morning :/ )

 Day 3:

 What worked well in your process?

 I communicated well (according to my partner). I didn't finish but stuck with it until the timer stopped.

 What was difficult/where did you struggle?

 I had the Roman Numerals problem and had trouble coming up with an elegant/not-hard coded solution. I feel like there's some quick solution involving a hash but my attempts at using one didn't pan out.

 What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

 He said I communicated well and it was clear I knew how to code.

 Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

 Move things along a little more quickly.

 If this isn’t your first technical challenge:

 Were you able to improve your approach? What went better?

 I think so. I'm glad I was able to speak clearly about the problem while I worked through it.

 Day 4:

 What worked well in your process?

 I went quickly through the early stages of the problem. I listened to Chaz's input when he suggested a way to make my brute force algorithm more efficient.

 What was difficult/where did you struggle?

 The challenge seemed pretty straightforward (I had Target & Payload) until I got to the part about returning an empty array when there wasn't a matching sum. That was a snag that I think would have felt simpler without someone watching. I did get it 5-10 minutes later, but it felt longer in the moment.

 What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

 He said I listened to him well/didn't tune him out when he offered suggestions. I think he did well to only step in to help when I needed it (mostly when I was looking for ways to improve the algorithm)

 Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

 Being a little calmer when I hit snags. They're part of the coding process and not something to freak out about, even if someone's watching.

 If this isn’t your first technical challenge:

 Were you able to improve your approach? What went better?
 This one felt closer to a real job interview and I think I got into that headspace a little better. Also, I finished.
	Day 1:

	What worked well in your process?

	I started simple, with a brute force solution. I think it can hurt to get too ambitious at the beginning of a technical challenge.
	What was difficult/where did you struggle?

	I had an idea for implementing binary search since I knew the arrays were sorted, but never finished it.

	What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

	We discussed our solutions. I had totally forgotten about the & operator in Ruby, which checks for intersection. A little disconcerting that others got it in a single line, but I assume an interviewer would ask for something more involved after you were done with that.

	Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

	Google more. Stick with it a little longer (I admittedly stopped at 40 minutes when I was stuck on the binary search idea).

	Day 2:

	What worked well in your process?

	I stayed calm, recognized that this was a very hard problem, and got to a semi-working solution in the end.

	What was difficult/where did you struggle?

	The sticking point that they expected the first set of menu items that matched the criteria, not just any set. I didn't make any progress until I decided to see what I could try it without satisfying that rule.

	What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

	Mostly everyone was stumped. Like I said my solution semi-worked (didn't return the items in order however), but I used a lot of the `rand` method and hard coded the max number of menu items (meaning anything larger than 75.00 most likely would have gotten stuck in a while loop).

	Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

	Make sure I figure out an MVP for my tech challenge first before trying to solve everything at once.


	If this isn’t your first technical challenge:

	Were you able to improve your approach? What went better?

	Yes, I did stick with this challenge (maybe-possibly went over time/worked on it the next morning :/ )

	Day 3:

	What worked well in your process?

	I communicated well (according to my partner). I didn't finish but stuck with it until the timer stopped.

	What was difficult/where did you struggle?

	I had the Roman Numerals problem and had trouble coming up with an elegant/not-hard coded solution. I feel like there's some quick solution involving a hash but my attempts at using one didn't pan out.

	What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

	He said I communicated well and it was clear I knew how to code.

	Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

	Move things along a little more quickly.

	If this isn’t your first technical challenge:

	Were you able to improve your approach? What went better?

	I think so. I'm glad I was able to speak clearly about the problem while I worked through it.

	Day 4:

	What worked well in your process?

	I went quickly through the early stages of the problem. I listened to Chaz's input when he suggested a way to make my brute force algorithm more efficient.

	What was difficult/where did you struggle?

	The challenge seemed pretty straightforward (I had Target & Payload) until I got to the part about returning an empty array when there wasn't a matching sum. That was a snag that I think would have felt simpler without someone watching. I did get it 5-10 minutes later, but it felt longer in the moment.

	What feedback/discussion did you have with your peer?

	He said I listened to him well/didn't tune him out when he offered suggestions. I think he did well to only step in to help when I needed it (mostly when I was looking for ways to improve the algorithm)

	Is there anything you want to change about your approach to the next technical challenge?

	Being a little calmer when I hit snags. They're part of the coding process and not something to freak out about, even if someone's watching.

	If this isn’t your first technical challenge:

	Were you able to improve your approach? What went better?
	This one felt closer to a real job interview and I think I got into that headspace a little better. Also, I finished.
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